Impact of Universal Credit in North East England: a qualitative study of claimants and support staff

Abstract

ObjectivesTo understand the impact of the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) from the perspectives of claimants and staff supporting them in North East England.DesignQualitative study comprising interviews and focus groups.SettingGateshead and Newcastle, two localities in North East England characterised by high levels of socioeconomic deprivation, where the roll-out of UC started in 2017 as a new way to deliver welfare benefits for the UK working age population.Participants33 UC claimants with complex needs, disabilities and health conditions and 37 staff from local government, housing, voluntary and community sector organisations.ResultsParticipants’ accounts of the UC claims process and the consequences of managing on UC are reported; UC negatively impacts on material wellbeing, physical and mental health, social and family lives. UC claimants described the digital claims process as complicated, disorientating, impersonal, hostile and demeaning. Claimants reported being pushed into debt, rent arrears, housing insecurity, fuel and food poverty through UC. System failures, indifference and delays in receipt of UC entitlements exacerbated the difficulties of managing on a low income. The threat of punitive sanctions for failing to meet the enhanced conditionality requirements under UC added to claimant’s vulnerabilities and distress. Staff reported concerns for claimants and additional pressures on health services, local government and voluntary and community sector organisations as a result of UC.ConclusionsThe findings add considerable detail to emerging evidence of the deleterious effects of UC on vulnerable claimants’ health and wellbeing. Our evidence suggests that UC is undermining vulnerable claimants’ mental health, increasing the risk of poverty, hardship, destitution and suicidality. Major, evidence-informed revisions are required to improve the design and implementation of UC to prevent further adverse effects before large numbers of people move on to UC, as planned by the UK government.

Understanding and improving the experience of claiming social security for mental health problems in the west of Scotland: A participatory social welfare study

“…Universal credit is paid monthly, causing participants to expect that this will lead to problems with budgeting, especially for people with mental health problems associated with impulsive spending, such as bipolar (Richardson, Jansen, & Fitch, ). At the time of writing, the implementation of universal credit has been associated with increased robberies (Scottish Police Authority, ) and suicide (Cheetham & Moffatt, ), suggesting broader negative impacts. Considering the concern raised by participants within the current study and these other findings, we argue universal credit needs to be urgently redesigned or scrapped.…”

NHS is picking up the pieces as social safety nets fail

“…This will resonate with the general practitioners in the north east of England, who have described how their workload is increasing because of universal credit, with at least one consultation in every surgery “universal credit based.”4 Their local council published a report describing how universal credit was worsening the health of people with long term conditions, with some considering suicide 5. Alston’s condemnation of the enormous growth of foodbanks6 will be no surprise to the general practice in Salford that has partnered with a local one, with one general practitioner describing food insecurity as “a life-and-death situation” for some patients 7…”

Comparative analysis of rural poverty and inequality in the UK and the US

“…Poverty can be measured/conceptualised as either an absolute measure, e.g., failure to achieve a certain baseline level of material resources, or as a relative measure, e.g., where household or personal income is compared to a particular point in a nation's, or community's, income distribution, for example, having an income below 60% of the national median income (Chapman et al, 1998;Lister, 2004). From a conventional statistical standpoint, these concepts and measures do not vary significantly between the UK and US, except that the US is more likely to employ absolute poverty while the UK (and most of the EU) uses relative poverty (Shucksmith and Schafft, 2012).…”

“…and achieved characteristics, educational attainment, work experience, etc. on the chances of being poor, and of poverty dynamics, e.g., becoming poor, escaping poverty (Barnard et al, 2018, Chapman et al, 1998, Rank and Hirschl., 1999, Stevens., 1999. However, Chetty's work makes it clear that the determinants of poverty operate at multiple levels.…”