Universal Credit (UC) pushes many families who may already be in crisis into debt, rent arrears and serious hardship, says the Institute of Health Equity (IHE)
In 'Health Equity in England: The Marmot review 10 years on', the IHE explores what has happened to health inequalities and social determinants of health in the decade since the Marmot Review.
It highlights that since 2010 there have been widespread changes to the tax and benefit system, notably the introduction of UC:
“The introduction of UC has increased the risk of debt for low-income households. The UC system is designed with a delay between filing a claim and receiving benefits.
This waiting period can take up to 12 weeks and it pushes many families who may already be in crisis into debt, rent arrears and serious hardship.
Any advance payments loans, and debt to third parties including for rent, gas and electricity arrears, can be deducted to up to 60% of the UC before the payment is even disbursed, potentially renderin people destitute, even after their claim is awarded.”
The IHE highlight that disabled adults face some of the highest risks of poverty:
- nearly half of those in poverty in the UK in 2018 – 6.9 million people – were from families in which someone had a disability
- in 2019, SCOPE, the disability equality charity, estimated the extra living costs for people with disabilities to be, on average, £583 per month (for expenses related to their impairment or condition)
- disabled people, at every level of qualification, are more likely than non-disabled people to receive lower pay
- disability assessments for benefits have been reported to be superficial, dismissive, and to contradict the advice of doctors
- those with disabilities are also experiencing the effects of cuts in local government services, particularly within social care
- changes to benefits and taxes since 2010 have resulted in reductions in income for disabled people and families since 2010.
As a result, among the IHE’s key recommendations for ensuring a healthy standard of living for all include:
- ensuring everyone has a minimum income for healthy living through increases to the National Living Wage and redesign of UC
- removing sanctions and reducing conditionalities in welfare payments
- reviewing the taxation and benefit system to ensure it achieves greater equity and is not regressive.
For more information see Marmot Review 10 Years On @ instituteofhealthequity.org