More ‘ambitious’ benefit system needed to ensure that claimants are adequately supported as UK recovers from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic

New report provides an in-depth understanding of the experiences of claimants and how people have navigated the benefit system during a time of unprecedented labour market disruption

A more ambitious benefit system is needed to ensure that claimants are adequately supported as the UK recovers from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report from the Welfare at a (Social) Distance project has said.

The report, Claimants’ experiences of the social security system during the first wave of COVID-19, examines the benefits system’s capacity to adapt and respond to unprecedented labour market disruption, and provides an in-depth understanding of the experiences of claimants and how individuals and households have navigated large parts of the working-age social security landscape during a time of such disruption.

However, while the report acknowledges that the DWP reacted dynamically to process an unprecedented number of new claims last year as lockdown began, it says that Covid-19 can be thought of as the first economic crisis to test universal credit and has highlighted cause for major concern about specific aspects of benefit application processes and the adequacy of payment levels.

For example, the report found -

• Many benefit claimants were struggling with a considerable gap between their basic cost of living and the amount of benefit they received. Findings show that almost 60 per cent of new benefit claimants and 4 per cent of existing claimants (i.e. who had been claiming since before the pandemic) had experienced a drop in their income which they were not able to manage by simply reducing their spending.
• Almost two-thirds of all claimants reported some level of financial strain, saying they would not be able to replace or repair major electrical goods if they broke, and could not save £10 a month. Around half of claimants were experiencing some form of severe financial strain - one in six new claimants and one in five existing claimants had skipped a meal in the previous two weeks because they could not afford food.
• People were using a range of strategies to 'get by’ including borrowing from banks (using a credit card, an overdraft or a bank loan) or from friends/family, as well as receiving ‘gifts’ from friends/family. Food bank use and the use of emergency help from local authorities or third sector organisations were also evident.
• Almost half (46 per cent) of new claimants had experienced some sort of difficulty applying for benefits. These included: telephone accessibility; calculating their household income and expenses; providing information related to housing or childcare costs; providing supporting documentation to prove eligibility; and submitting a joint claim as a couple.
• Many claimants were particularly confused by the amount of benefit they were eligible for. Universal credit claimants were the least likely to understand their payments, with 18 per cent saying that they did not understand how the amount they received was arrived at.
• Claimants reported that although many DWP staff were kind and helpful when they spoke to them, they often felt that they did not always have the expertise and experience to fully answer their queries, perhaps reflecting the rapid redeployment of staff to frontline roles to cope with the large influx of new applications. It was common for claimants to need to seek extra advice and support outside the DWP. Social media groups, family and friends, employers, and wider social networks, were all drawn upon to navigate the application process.