The pace of the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) has quickened in recent months – and so too have the complaints and reputational hit that the reform is taking.
Much of the focus has been on the six week wait before new claimants moving out of work receive their first payment, which is the result of requiring people to wait seven days before earning any benefit entitlement and the view that all families should be got used to monthly payments in arrears. This is a classic case of the design of UC running up against the reality of people’s lives. After all, while it’s likely that 100 per cent of those designing UC are paid monthly, just 28 per cent of new claimants moving out of work and onto UC were paid this way, with the majority (58 per cent) paid either weekly or fortnightly.
The seven day wait should be scrapped and the option of more regular payments introduced. But while bringing more flexibility into the UC payment system can and should be solved they are really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the design challenges that need addressing.
Far bigger issues will emerge as more ‘complicated’ cases – for example working families with children – move onto the system. The government needs to get onto the front foot in dealing with the frictions that will arise between UC and the self-employed, along with childcare costs and free school meals. Otherwise, the slow drip of bad news risks draining support for UC – and with it a missed opportunity for UC to make a big positive change to our welfare system.
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I could, of course, go on and on and on about UC, I could share posts from a large number of organisations but, and this is a big BUT … I have found very few praising the system even when going to look for them specifically in the right-wing press.
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