Is universal credit working for working people? – Usdaw members’ experiences

a post by Kelly-Marie Jones (Welfare Rights Adviser | Early Warning System) for the CPAG blog

Since 2010, the government has ignored rising child poverty while repeating the mantra that work is the best route out of poverty. Work is indeed a factor in escaping poverty, but it needs to be secure work, with a decent wage, decent hours and prospects. In-work poverty is on the rise with 70 per cent of children growing up in poverty having a parent who works. Together with colleagues at the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), we set out to discover how the introduction of universal credit has affected Usdaw members.

Usdaw recently surveyed members receiving universal credit (UC). The results show that UC is not always supporting people out of poverty through work, or even upholding the early promise that “no-one will experience a reduction in the benefit they receive as a result of the introduction of Universal Credit”. Only one out of 25 respondents said they were better off on UC and nearly half reported being worse off. The biggest losses were borne by families with children, with one couple reporting a loss of £250 a month and a single parent losing as much as £320.

Getting hold of their entitlement, such as it was, wasn’t an easy process. Nearly half of survey respondents reported finding the claim process difficult, very difficult or even impossible – and only two of those received help with their claim. Difficulties included having to attend Jobcentre appointments around work hours and having their claim closed so having to start the claim process again.

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