“They’re Not Thinking on the Same Side We Are”: Street-Level Activation of Parents under Universal Credit

An online event about work in Camden to foster voluntary engagement with employment support among ill & disabled people on Universal Credit

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The SPA exists to advance the teaching, research, and dissemination of knowledge in the field of social policy, and to represent the interests of our [...]

Higher education is about more than just income.

Engaging with organisations and policymakers to shape the nature of decent work and productivity.

The UK’s social security landscape and public services infrastructure have been transformed since the Conservatives took office in 2010, initially as part of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The collision of austerity and a punitive approach to welfare reform have seen a drastic and far-reaching hollowing out of provision, which left the welfare state in poor health to respond to Covid-19 and then the cost-of-living crisis. There is growing evidence documenting the impact of these changes on society, and a greater appreciation of the harm caused by inadequate social security provision and under-resourced, failing public services. However, not enough is known about how these changes map onto the experiences of individuals over time. This working paper corrects this, reporting on in-depth research with those at the sharp edge of the social security system. The researchers have conducted repeat interviews with ten individuals for more than ten years, with the most recent interviews taking place during the winter of 2023-24. This research uncovers the extent to which social security and the wider infrastructure routinely fails individuals and their families. It highlights the harms caused by conditionality, and reveals the extent to which repeated fights for entitlement to support can grind people down over time.

The biggest group representing UK banks says the measures could conflict with customer protections.

Despite the centrality of activation, paid work and well-being to advanced welfare systems their inter-relationships remain fragmented and underdeveloped in scholarship and policy. The present articl...

Editorial: Liz Kendall needs a policy to match her rhetoric on helping claimants back into work