Social security Delaying rollout of Universal Credit is a sensible step – but fundamental reforms are still needed 16 October 2018 by David Finch Today we learnt that the government is preparing a package of measures for Universal Credit (UC) ahead of the upcoming Budget – but what are they changing and what difference might it make? The first thing to understand is that these changes aren’t about the fundamentals of either the generosity or operation of Universal Credit … Continued READ MORE
Social security With the benefits of benefit reform diminishing, Universal Credit needs a new direction 11 June 2018 by David Finch Another busy period of Brexit debate has pushed other big domestic issues out of the headlines. This is particularly true of Universal Credit (UC) – where two key government publications last week have slipped under the radar. In the coming year we can expect the profile of UC to rise again, with the pace of … Continued READ MORE
Social security Five big calls on Universal Credit for the new Work and Pensions Secretary 11 January 2018 by David Finch A new year brings with it a new Work and Pensions Secretary, with Esther McVey the fourth incumbent since Iain Duncan Smith stepped down in January 2016. For a department in the midst of rolling-out Universal Credit (UC), a radical reform of social security, change at the top brings both opportunity and risk. UC delivery … Continued READ MORE
Savings & debt· Generations Auto-enrolment has had a great beginning. But will it have a happy ending? 18 December 2017 by David Finch We hear a lot about good policy plans gone wrong (Universal Credit springs to mind) for obvious reasons. But we ought to listen (and learn) from successes too. Auto-enrolment into workplace pension savings is the obvious candidate for this cheery policy tale, though the story has only just begun. Over nine million have signed up … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Savings & debt· Demographics What could the latest life expectancy projections mean for the State Pension Age? 5 December 2017 by David Finch At the end of last week, the ONS published the latest future projections showing its best estimate of how long we can expect to live. We don’t automatically associate our living standards with factors like health or how many years of life we may have. But just like income, life expectancy is an important indicator … Continued READ MORE
Social security Time to make Universal Credit fit for purpose in 21st century Britain 31 October 2017 by David Finch The pace of the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC) has quickened in recent months – and so too have the complaints and reputational hit that the reform is taking. Much of the focus has been on the six week wait before new claimants moving out of work receive their first payment, which is the result … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Social security Let it go Chancellor. Why Philip Hammond should revisit the benefit freeze in next month’s Budget 15 October 2017 by David Finch The weather might be un-seasonally warm just now, but millions of household budgets are in the grip of a four-year freeze that’s about to get colder still. For decades, the government’s default position has been to uprate the value of working-age benefits each April in line with the rate of inflation prevailing in the previous … Continued READ MORE
Childcare· Social security A hat-trick of childcare policies are being rolled out this Autumn. But is the current approach an expensive own goal? 28 September 2017 by David Finch Childcare support is all the rage. As well as being the focus of one of the key policy announcements at Labour Conference this week, the government is rolling out not one but three new policies this Autumn. Even in these austere times, the government is spending £2bn on the introduction of Tax Free Childcare and … Continued READ MORE
Social security It’s crunch time for Universal Credit – and big changes are needed 7 July 2017 by David Finch Calls for an end to austerity have dominated the media in recent days with the focus largely on removing the public sector pay cap. But from a living standards perspective, ongoing ‘austerity’ via cuts in Universal Credit (UC) will make a much bigger difference to those families affected. The roll-out of UC, which is set … Continued READ MORE
Social security· Generations· Demographics· Political parties and elections The welfare gap between young and old is set to widen, whoever wins the next election 26 May 2017 by David Finch We love a good welfare row in elections. Back in 2015, Labour was branded the ‘welfare party’ while the Conservatives were reluctant to divulge the details of the £12 billion cuts package they planned to announced shortly after the election. A cynic might wonder if they were planning to ditch that pledge in the … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Social security· Mobility A wider range of subjects? 13 April 2017 by David Finch Today Justine Greening is giving a speech about education and specifically the attainment of children from low and middle income families. The reaction to the speech will focus on the rights (not many) and wrongs (many) of grammar schools, but that should not wholly drown out some very welcome data work released by the Department … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Social security· Tax The government’s £1bn tax and benefit giveaway will leave poorer households worse off 2 April 2017 by David Finch The arrival of April heralds a new financial year, but one that doesn’t bring with it the usual inflation-linked increases in tax thresholds and benefit rates. The former are set to rise faster than inflation – providing a tax cut for those earning more than £11,100 – while the latter continue to be frozen in … Continued READ MORE
Savings & debt· Wealth Automatic success for the people? 3 March 2017 by David Finch Political commentators love a good high-profile policy disaster. Think NHS IT systems or the poll tax. But successes happen too. Usually they’re small scale, making incremental improvements, often for specific parts of the population. But just sometimes they’re a really big deal – fundamentally changing outcomes for millions of people. When such victories come along, … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Incomes· Public finances Will the new Chancellor pass the first major test of support for ‘just managing families’ in his Autumn Statement? 9 October 2016 by David Finch We are approaching the time of the football season where managers start to lose their jobs. New appointees inevitably face lots of problems, but they have an opportunity to make a name for themselves by turning things around. The key is to identify where problems are and take effective and rapid action. Even with intense … Continued READ MORE
Public finances· Trade Five charts that tell the story so far of the post-referendum economy 20 July 2016 by Matthew Whittaker and David Finch Perhaps the only certainty in relation to the UK at the moment is that things look very uncertain. Longer-term, much will depend on just what Brexit ends up meaning. Shorter-term, most economists expect some form of demand-led slowdown – with general business and consumer uncertainty pulling back on investment and spending and sharp falls in … Continued READ MORE
Social security Stick or Twist – decision time for Stephen Crabb on Universal Credit 4 May 2016 by David Finch The new Work and Pensions Secretary has been dealt a risky hand. Universal Credit (UC), the ambitious combining of six working age benefits into one, reaches a critical phase this month as the roll-out of a fully working system finally begins in areas including Newcastle and Bath. Universal Credit is a huge deal. By 2020 … Continued READ MORE
Social security The roll out of Universal Credit will lead to a postcode lottery of winners and losers 12 April 2016 by David Finch On welfare reform, something is moving in the undergrowth. It’s called Universal Credit. The new benefit will amount to £53 billion by 2020-21, with almost half of families with children entitled to it. Only the State Pension will be bigger. Implementing this mammoth policy is the key task facing the new Secretary of State for … Continued READ MORE
Work· Social security The shifting shape of worklessness creates new challenges 1 February 2016 by David Finch At the heart of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill – now experiencing a somewhat bumpier than expected ride through the House of Lords – sits a commitment to further reduce worklessness and at the same time move closer to full employment. Substantial progress is already being made on both – the proportion of children … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Social security Could Universal Credit hold the key to reducing child poverty? 25 June 2015 by David Finch We discovered this morning that the proportion of children living in relative poverty is at its lowest level since the 1980s. Great news of course, but this headline masks a much more complicated – and worrying – picture. Falls in this headline poverty measure – which captures those children living in households with incomes less … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Social security Assessing the proposal to cut £5 billion from Child Tax Credit 14 June 2015 by David Finch Last week, the BBC reported that the government was contemplating a major reduction in Child Tax Credit, in order to go part way towards meeting the £12 billion in working age welfare benefit cuts that it has committed to finding by 2017/18. The report suggested that the government was considering reducing the value of the … Continued READ MORE
Social security The challenges facing Universal Credit go far wider than its IT system 27 November 2014 by David Finch The program to deliver Universal Credit (UC) has already been reset by the Major Projects Authority, and now the National Audit Office has raised further doubts about whether UC will be successfully implemented at all. Their report tells us that the new digital service been delayed by six months due to a lack of staff … Continued READ MORE
Social security The importance of getting the incentives right for Universal Credit 10 September 2014 by David Finch Despite parties gearing up for the next election and the chancellor already placing further spending cuts to welfare firmly on the table, attention has moved away from the expected impact of Universal Credit on families, and has instead turned to the implementation issues that have dogged it so far. Cuts in welfare spending have already … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty The poverty challenge remains – but its nature is changing 1 July 2014 by David Finch Today’s annual poverty update from the DWP is, on the face of it, fairly encouraging. Despite the poor state of the economy in 2012-13 – the period the latest figures relate to – child poverty edged down slightly, to 17 per cent from 18 per cent in 2011-12. Having fallen quite sharply at the start of the … Continued READ MORE
