Universal Credit: Your Questions Answered
James Henderson is working on the ground in the Black Country as UC is rolled out. He’s here to answer your questions about this confusing topic.
Written by: Content Honcho on Feb 07, 2020. Category: News
James Henderson is working on the ground in the Black Country as UC is rolled out. He’s here to answer your questions about this confusing topic.
Written by: Content Honcho on Feb 07, 2020. Category: News
James Henderson is working on the ground in the Black Country as UC is rolled out. He’s here to answer your questions about this confusing topic.
How is UC different from what we’ve had before?
Universal Credit is arguably the biggest change to the welfare state since its creation in the 1940s. The changes are expected to affect nearly 8 million people.
There are three key changes:
What does this mean for people who are transferring to UC?
At the moment people only transfer to UC if they need to make a new claim or if they have a change in circumstance. Eventually, everyone on the six affected benefits will be transferred across.
Why are people so worried about UC?
The main problem is the sheer speed and scale of the changes. Just one of these on their own would be a big change, but many fear that the combination of these will be crippling.
Let’s look at five areas that have people worried
One major concern with this change is that people would have to learn a new way of budgeting, which is going to be hard and take time.
The other major concern is that people with addictions or life controlling habits will spend all of this income in one go and be left destitute until their next monthly payment.
Many homeless charities, housing associations and private landlords worry about this and the evidence in the early rollout sites is that the number of people with rent arrears has increased by as much as three, four or even five times the level of those on the old system.
When there’s so little in reserve, 6 weeks is a very long time to wait without a new source of income. Research has shown that foodbank usage in areas of full UC service for six months or more have seen a 30% average increase.
How are you helping others prepare for this shift?
One of the main ways we are helping is by raising awareness.
I work in the Black Country and we’re working in Wolverhampton, partnering with the council to deliver a short course that explains what UC is and teaches monthly budgeting. In the new year we’ll also be partnering with Walsall Housing Group to provide similar support to their social housing tenants.
I’ve also worked with the Just Finance Foundation team to produce a short course that can be delivered in under an hour, either to claimants or to those who support them in churches, drop-ins, and charities. It is designed to help people understand and negotiate some of the complexities of Universal Credit. You can download it for free here.
What can churches and individuals do to ensure the UC rollout is as painless as possible?
Churches are already making a massive difference through things like,
Just ask yourselves as a church, could we do any of this?