Mistakes around universal credit also showed why it’s so important to co-design systems in partnership with people who have experience of them. It would not have been hard to identify that many low-paid jobs are paid weekly, and that – due to stigma towards claimants – people often delay claiming until they are in crisis. Yet the five-week wait remains a major issue baked into the design of the system. Thankfully the government finally seems to be learning from mistakes here.
However, during the pandemic, universal credit demonstrated ability to cope with a huge rise in claims overnight and it allowed the government to temporarily increase support by £20 each week. Our recent research with the University of Bristol also found that claimants had a much more positive experience during Covid – describing work coaches showing more discretion and flexibility.
With more adequate payments and genuinely supportive work coaches, did this period give us a glimmer of what a genuinely supportive and effective universal credit could look like?
Despite its flaws, universal credit fixed some long-standing problems. It made it simpler to access benefits through one application, proved agile in a crisis and its “test and learn” design means it continues to evolve. But 15 years after that first announcement, it is still failing to offer adequate financial protection or real support into work.
To recover from job loss or major life changes we need security and support to avoid falling into financial crisis. But the main cause for the explosion in food bank use in Britain is that benefit levels are now so low. At Turn2us, we hear daily from families who cannot afford food, heating or rent.
Since universal credit was introduced, the value of the standard rate has reduced most years. The government has rightly acknowledged this, pledging to slightly increase it over the next three years.
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But research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Trussell shows that the weekly rate still won’t even cover the cost of essentials such as food, heating and toiletries. That is why we back their calls for an ‘essentials guarantee’ – embedding a legal minimum in universal credit, so that it always covers life’s essentials.
Similarly, the two-child limit and the benefit cap are the biggest drivers of child poverty in the UK, which is now at a record high of four million. It is wrong for any child to go without food or clothes. We are very hopeful that these two disastrous policies will be scrapped in the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Universal credit was meant to better support people to work, and this government has big ambitions to improve employment support. But our recent research shows that accessing universal credit worsens people’s mental health and pushes them further from work.
Frustrating processes, belittling treatment from work coaches and intimidating security guards knock claimants confidence and leaves them demoralised. Distrust in work coaches makes productive conversations to overcome barriers to work impossible.
The government’s employment support reforms must prioritise giving work coaches the time and comprehensive training to be able to build trusting relationships, boost claimant confidence and provide tailored support.
Sanctions remain one of the most damaging aspects of universal credit and decimate trust. Government data shows they don’t work. Rather than helping people into secure jobs, they drive them into hardship. People are still being penalised for missing appointments due to illness, caring responsibilities or last-minute shifts.
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Most people want to work, but the Jobcentre’s approach treats jobseekers like children. We urge the government to implement a three-month period of voluntary, claimant-led engagement to nurture ambition, self-esteem and hope.
Almost all of us will need our social security system at some point in our lives. When we, or members of our family do, we would expect it to offer stability and to treat us with dignity and respect.
Fifteen years ago, our society’s stigma towards claimants shaped the design of universal credit, creating policies that are not only harmful but which make the system less efficient and less effective.
Now, in this anniversary year, this government has a major opportunity to deliver a social security system that is fit for current times, by refocusing universal credit on trust, dignity and respect.
Lucy Bannister is head of policy and influencing at Turn2us.
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