A new report from the Resolution Foundation suggests that Universal Credit (UC) will have to adapt in order to meet the challenges presented by an increasingly elderly and ill population. The study found that the number of ill health benefit claimants who are out of work has grown by almost 100% since 2013. Recently, the UK government announced changes to the UC aimed at encouraging people suffering ill health to seek work. The current system, implemented in 2013 to streamline benefits for unemployed and low-paid people, has experienced significant changes since its inception and the report suggests that the country and benefit system have both changed significantly since 2013.
There were almost 6.4 million people on Universal Credit in January, according to official government statistics. And almost 40% of claimants were in work. As the system has expanded, the Resolution Foundation suggests that the government should seek to understand both the system inherited and the population that relies on its support. The UK’s prolonged period of recession has been marked by a significant rise in the number of workers suffering ill health. This social upheaval will require change in the way that the system is administered.
According to the Resolution Foundation, seven in ten families on the UC or legacy benefits are far worse off in real terms, due to the cuts made to overall support for working-age benefits, rather than the way the UC has been designed. The study concludes by suggesting that whilst the UC has made positive gains by offering greater support for renters and stronger incentives to enter work, more effort needs to be made to address the issue of Britain’s new challenge regarding long-term sickness. This will require the Department of Work and Pensions to redesign its policies to ensure benefits can adapt to the emerging future requirements of the workforce
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