One key rationale behind the design of Universal Credit is administrative simplicity. But that apparent simplicity ends up concealing the complexity of people’s different lives and circumstances, resulting in claimants of Universal Credit having to navigate and manage that complexity themselves. As the Labour Government embarks on reforms to welfare with their Back to Work Plan, it should acknowledge the complexity of people’s different situations and help the system manage it, argue Kate Summers and David Young.
The new Labour Government is going full steam ahead with announcements around its Back to Work Plan. We are yet to see, however, how and when plans to review Universal Credit (UC) will be announced. Commentators have rightly emphasised some key considerations when reviewing UC: particularly, adequacy of payments, the role of assessments and the role of conditionality. One of the key underpinning principles of UC is administrative simplicity, whereby the processes of administering the benefit are simplified to create a more straightforward system that should be easier to navigate for claimants.
Full report – https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/aiming-for-simplicity-in-universal-credit-was-a-mistake/
