Universal credit plans leave disabled worse off

Is universal credit still fit for purpose? The UK’s basic support payment was launched a decade ago, when unemployment was high. Twelve years and a pandemic later, the full rollout of a system that awards more money to those who are working than the unemployed appears to be punishing those out of work due to disability or long-term illness. The Resolution Foundation says single people with a disability that prevents them from working could be £2,800 worse off, even adjusting for inflation. Universal credit is also bad for families: the think tank estimates that 550,000 people from families that currently receive disability benefits could move into the poorest 10 per cent of the population. And it’s bad for levelling up: the focus on supporting working renters could eventually shift £2.1 billion in benefit entitlement towards London and the South East and away from the rest of the country – including from regions including the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, which also have some of the highest concentrations of ill-health. Not so universal.