Government must increase trust in Universal Credit as full roll out brings 15 million people into the system

By April, Universal Credit (UC) is finally due to be fully rolled out, thirteen years after its introduction in 2013. With half of all children in the UK (6.5 million) living in families receiving UC, the Government must use this milestone to build trust and improve the system for claimants, according to new proposals published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation and Changing Realities.

Listen and learn draws on testimony from UC claimants and welfare advisors alongside new Freedom of Information requests to set out how the Government could reform the benefit to improve outcomes and experiences for claimants and better deliver on UC’s original aims.

15 million people will live in families receiving UC by April 2026. By this point, the system will serve a quarter of all people below pension age (26 per cent), while over two-in-five children (42 per cent) across the UK will be in families that receive UC. But despite its huge role in modern life, UC remains a source of anxiety for many – with Changing Realities participant Sia reporting it “makes me feel like a second-class citizen”.

One policy problem the authors highlight is the notorious ‘five-week wait’, which Changing Realities participant Alby described as “push[ing] people into crisis at the exact moment when they’re most vulnerable”.

Although repayable UC advances are available, the report urges the Government to be bolder in addressing this huge issue for claimants. It proposes allowing those who delayed claiming to backdate their claim by up to a month, and the provision of discretionary grants for people pushed into crisis by the wait, as currently happens in Northern Ireland.

Increased flexibility around assessment periods (currently monthly) would also address the volatility which has characterised UC for many self-employed people, and those paid weekly or four-weekly. These people currently risk receiving less support than someone who earns the same amount in a stable monthly pattern.

UC provides considerable support with childcare costs: 85 per cent, up to a cap. But requiring parents to pay childcare costs upfront and then recoup them from UC has, as Changing Realities participant Beauty noted, “undermine[d] the very goal of UC – to make work pay”, making it difficult to enter work or work longer hours.

A simple solution would be to bring the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) – designed to help struggling parents with upfront childcare costs but currently underutilised – into the UC system. An even more comprehensive solution would be to pay UC childcare support in advance through the Tax-Free Childcare account system.

But, critically, if trust in the system is to be built, then these technical and structural improvements need to be complemented by a fundamental ‘culture reset’ that puts dignity and respect at the heart of UC. The UK Government should work directly with claimants to deliver this and could look to successful reforms in Scotland, including the coproduction of a charter of rights, retraining of staff and reformulating of targets.

The changes recommended in the report would, the authors say, go a long way to making the experience of claiming UC simpler, more flexible and more dignified. These three principles should lie at the heart of Government efforts to rebuild trust in UC.

Better still, the Foundation calculates that these changes needn’t break the bank. They estimate that the reforms together would likely cost around £400 million in one-off costs – which would need to be found from DWP’s departmental budget of around £12 billion a year – and between £700-900 million in annual AME expenditure.

Lindsay Judge, Research Director at the Resolution Foundation, said:

“Universal Credit now supports more than half of all children in the UK, making it more urgent than ever that the Government reforms the system to make it easier to use for the 15 million people who rely on it.

“Our proposals show that a range of structural and cultural changes could transform claimants’ day-to-day experiences of the system with only a marginal increase in the year-on-year benefit spend.

“From softening the five-week wait to supporting parents with upfront childcare costs, these changes would make UC simpler, more flexible, and more dignified for the families it’s designed to support.”

Ruth Patrick, Professor of Social and Public Glasgow at the University of Glasgow and Project Lead of Changing Realities

“For too long, Universal Credit has been underpinned by a series of assumptions about people’s lives, which bear little relation to everyday realities for those relying on this benefit.

“If Universal Credit is to be effectively reformed, the Government must overturn flaws in its original design including the five-week wait for a first payment, rigid monthly assessment periods and problems with childcare support.

“This must be underpinned by a ‘listen and learn’ approach, which foregrounds the expertise that comes with lived experiences of social security. If the Government wants to show a readiness to listen to a wide range of expertise on Universal Credit, enacting the reforms proposed by this report would represent a very good start.”

Ella, Universal Credit claimant and Changing Realities participant

“It would make a huge difference to the lives of millions of Universal Credit claimants if we can co-produce and create a system which promotes dignity and respect. These values should be at the very core of Universal Credit so that no family is left lost in the system and wrongfully penalised.”