Welfare in Reality

Changes to inflation, both positive and negative, impacts individuals and communities in many ways. Today’s inflation figure will reflect well on some, not so well on others, and for many it won’t make any difference.

An increase to inflation results in an uplift to some benefit payments (and can influence changes to Universal Credit), however it is our experience that this never meets the mark of what individuals and families require in order to make ends meet, let alone guarantee that they can provide the essentials for themselves and/or their families.

Uprating has not come anywhere near to the current cost of living rates. Our welfare benefit advisors regularly complete benefit checks for individuals who are unable to pay all of their bills and provide the essentials to live on, yet more often than not they are in receipt of their full entitlement before a check has taken place. The system doesn’t support those who need support most, which is why we subscribe to the JRF and Trussell campaign for an essentials guarantee

Today’s spotlight on the welfare system has prompted reflection from a benefits advisors around some of the challenges that they are facing. She reflects that “the move to Universal Credit has been littered with challenges. The number of errors in claims and the hoops that vulnerable individuals have to jump through is unbelievable”. The advisor accompanies this statement by sharing the story of an individual “whose mental health has significantly deteriorated as a direct result of the stress caused by the migration of their existing benefits over to Universal Credit”. She explains that she has “seen him several times over the last few months and watched his mental state deteriorate which has resulted in the need for increased inout from mental health services”.

The system is intended to support those who need support when they are most vulnerable. The advisor is from a team who work with a number of individuals who require additional support because they have a disability or a longterm illness. She reflects that the find it particularly challenging when the have to “complete reset applications for disability benefits and capability for work from for conditions that are long-term and do not have a possible prognosis of improvement”.

Whilst advisors in advice services across the country continue to provide life changing support to those for whom life circumstances have led them to needing welfare support, there are clear messages that they are keen to share whilst the spotlight is on the welfare system:

  • We are all a single life event away from needing support – if policy makers found themselves in the unfortunate position where they were unable to work due to ill health, would they be able to provide the essentials for themselves and/or their families with benefits at the rate they currently are?
  • The vast majority of people on disability benefits are not playing the system, exaggerating, or committing fraud. It’s unfair to insist that people with permanent/ long term health problems complete regular reviews every few years.
  • Understand the implications on credit rating and long-term financial prospects of those who fall into debt because of the challenging nature of navigating the welfare system.
  • Whilst it’s wonderful that advice services are able to support people to navigate the system, there are many who don’t connect to advice services , find themselves in vulnerable situations, and struggle. “Learn from the lessons of the high profile stories, so that the low profile ones don’t become high profile tragedies”.


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