Unemployed parents using Universal Credit will face tougher sanctions as part of the government’s crackdown on benefit claimants.
Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt has announced tougher benefit sanctions to force unemployed mothers and fathers or stay-at-home partners to find work or increase their working hours.
The prime minister has expanded existing sanctions to impose more restrictions on those who do not meet “strict job application requirements” or “choose not to receive reasonable job offers”, including stay-at-home parents. He said it would be strictly enforced.
He hit hard by not only raising benefits to reflect current childcare costs, but also by proposing universal credit parental benefits up front for those who work more hours or get a job. was relieved.
However, he was warned that the measure could “backfire” and end up punishing the poorest families who are already suffering because of the cost of living crisis.
Parents who do not meet the requirements to meet a job coach or participate in a job search may face sanctions resulting in a temporary reduction in universal credit payments, although not child benefits. .
Such benefit reductions range from 7 to 91 days, depending on the severity of the sanction imposed on the claimant.
Hunt unveiled the plan in a draft budget that includes a series of policies centered around hiring more people.
The announced changes will reduce the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET), the amount a person must earn to avoid having to meet regularly with a job coach, from the equivalent of 15 hours of salary to 18 hours. increases to
A partner of someone who is currently working and claiming universal credit does not need to meet with a work coach at all.
However, this has been changed to remove the couple threshold entirely. That means you need to see a coach and take “proactive steps” to get a job or get more hours.
There will also be increased sanctions for single parents and lone caregivers who previously did not have to look for work. Together, the ministers estimate that these measures could reach about 800,000 parents and caregivers in total.
Existing sanctions against all universal credit claimants will also be tightened and partially automated to ensure people aren’t overlooked, Hunt said, targeting “more than 2 million” people and increasing employment. I am getting paid instead.
Sam Timms, an economist at the New Economics Foundation, a left-wing think tank, said the “tweaks” to the system “address the underlying problem of not providing enough support to low- and middle-income families. It’s nothing,” he warned.
The group, seeking universal income, added:
Ben Harrison, director of Lancaster University’s Work Foundation think tank, said the sanctions “are very likely to backfire” with “vulnerable households in the country paying the price”.
“The UK welfare system is already punitive, with 1 in 12 people in Universal Credit’s ‘seeking a job’ group of 1.4 million people already being sanctioned.
“But there is little to no evidence that tougher sanctions for those who are unemployed or working part-time are effective.”
In fact, the evidence that exists suggests that the new sanctions announced today will very likely be counterproductive and harmful for many who are already suffering from a cost of living crisis.
“Before introducing further welfare sanctions, the government followed the instructions of the Information Commissioner and had long deferred whether such measures would be effective in promoting the return of people to sustainable employment. You should publish your own review.”
The budget also includes plans to expand youth employment assistance to include young parents and caregivers.
Hunt also made plans to encourage older people to return to work by expanding the “Middle Age MOT,” which provides guidance to those on the brink of retirement.
And he announced that he would be launching a new kind of apprenticeship for people over 50 called “Returnerships” for those looking to make a career change.
