Section: Welfare Benefits

New report finds that Universal Credit has helped take benefit payments to their lowest since 1948

A new IPPR report finds that social security payments have reached their lowest level since 1948 compared to average earnings, after years in which the real value of benefits has lagged behind wage growth - culminating in the recent benefits freeze.

The report finds a system at breaking point:

Universal Credit (UC) payments are historically low with the situation made worse by debt deductions taken from the first UC payment onwards, which can be up to 40% of each payment.
The assessment system is unable to cope with constant recalculation of claimant eligibility - leading to a 17% increase in underpayments and families being unable to predict how much they will receive each month.
Sanctions are severe and applied to vulnerable groups such as disabled people, low paid workers and lone parents.

The report finds that the combined effect is to keep some claimants in near constant financial insecurity, despite being supposedly supported by the State's social safety net.

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Reporting on November 2019

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