Toggle high contrast
Issue date

Commenting on the latest pathfinder evaluation for Universal Credit, published today (Wednesday) by the Department for Work and Pensions, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“It’s very worrying that the Universal Credit pilots are putting claimants at greater risk of falling behind with their bills.

“One of the big problems with Universal Credit is that new claimants have to wait at least six weeks before they receive any cash support, however long they have worked or however much they have contributed. The six-week wait puts people who lose their job, or become disabled, at immediate risk of getting trapped in a debt spiral.

“And it’s going to get worse as the government is now consulting on a proposal to make some people wait up to six months before they get any cash support.

“By forcing people to wait weeks for cash support when bad luck strikes, the government is attacking the safety net that we all pay into from our earnings.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The Universal Credit Pathfinder Evaluation (October 2014) reports that more Universal Credit claimants are ‘falling behind with bills and financial commitments’ than for a comparison groups of Jobseekers Allowance claimants. See figure 4, page 32: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/365544/rr886-universal-credit-pathfinder-evaluation.pdf

- More information on the TUC’s ‘Saving Our Safety Net’ campaign can be found at http://savingoursafetynet.org/

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).

Setup now