Dr Sharon Wright comments on recent developments and the balance between sanctions and support. See also her comment piece in The National
Benefit sanctions are a core part of the UK Coalition Government’s welfare reforms, but how do sanctions affect people living in Scotland? New evidence shows that benefit sanctions have removed £32 million from the Scottish economy and there are concerns that poverty and hardship are being created on a scale and intensity unseen for more than half a century. Three quarters of referrals to food banks have been related to benefit sanctions or delays. Sanctioned claimants have been found to cut back on food and heating, borrow from family and friends, use payday loans and miss rent payments.
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Dr David Webster’s analysis of the most recent DWP statistics, covering Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance, is out now. Read more here
Those following the Commons Work and Pensions select committee inquiry will know that employment minister Esther McVey told MPs the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctions is falling (see our blog). The latest DWP statistics confirm that the number of JSA and ESA sanctions has indeed fallen to just under 900,000 in the year to September 2014.
But what lies behind the headline numbers? Dr David Webster of the University of Glasgow has made a detailed study. His latest newsletter finds that sanction numbers have fallen broadly in line with claimant numbers – so proportionally the figure is fairly stable at about 6.5 per cent of claimants per month. This monthly figure does not tell the whole story of cumulative figures. Dr Webster says that of all those claiming JSA during 2013/14, almost a fifth – more than 500,000 people – experienced sanctions.
The current newsletter also has the first analysis of ‘mandatory reconsideration’ figures, and his own estimate of the amount of benefit lost to service users through sanctions.
Read Dr Webster’s previous newsletters here.
Janis Bright considers the latest developments from the Commons Work and Pensions Committee inquiry into benefit sanctions. Read more here
Janis Bright considers the latest developments at the inquiry into benefit sanctions
Against the talk of public inquiries taking years to complete their circuit, the Commons select committee system is a proper Usain Bolt. The Work and Pensions Committee’s current inquiry into benefit sanctions, which began taking evidence only in December, is sprinting along with the general election coming up fast on the inside.
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Read our new blog by Sarah Johnsen, which explores the evidence for this group of welfare service users. Sarah introduces a briefing paper with more detail on the history and arguments on this topic.
Sarah Johnsen introduces a briefing paper exploring the issues
Concerns about high unemployment rates and levels of poverty amongst single parent households have prompted a number of OECD countries to target lone parents for ‘activation’ reforms. These reforms aim to increase their participation in the paid workforce. In some respects the UK has been slower to apply work-related conditions to this group than other OECD countries, but their entitlements are now increasingly tied to their participation in the labour market.
The most significant change has been the introduction of Lone Parent Obligations (LPOs). These were introduced in 2008, at which point lone parents with a youngest child aged 12 or older were transferred from Income Support to Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). The age threshold has since reduced, such that all lone parents with a youngest child aged five or older are required to seek paid employment.
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Welfare Conditionality: Sanctions, Support and Behaviour Change project leader Professor Peter Dwyer gave evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee today. He was one of 10 witnesses asked to appear before the MPs to assist their inquiry into benefit sanctions and support. The inquiry follows last year’s Oakley Review with a remit to inquire beyond the scope of that report.
Read our written evidence submission here.
View the evidence session here.
Read the transcript here.
Read our new blog which comments on the latest DWP statistics for sanctions on benefit claimants. Is there a connection to the growing use of food banks?
