Archived

What impact does Universal Credit have on individuals’ and households’ employment, earnings and well-being? How does this vary between different areas and sub-groups? How can we improve the overall impact of Universal Credit on the labour market for individuals and business?

Background

We want to better understand how and why the labour market is changing and the implications for the number and types of people who need different support. We would like to improve our understanding of what determines the transitions people make between welfare and work and how DWP can support people to progress in work. We want to learn more about what works for whom, when, where, why, and under what circumstances. We would like to develop a richer picture of how disadvantages and barriers combine, reinforce each other, and manifest themselves throughout someone’s life, and how this affects their opportunities and outcomes.

Next steps

Send correspondence and further questions to evidence.strategyteam@dwp.gov.uk.

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

DWP Areas of Research Interest 2019 GOVUK

Related UKRI funded projects


  • Universal Credit and Employers: exploring the demand side of UK active labour market policy

    Research context: Active labour market policies (ALMPs) are government interventions traditionally focused on moving unemployed people into work. As those ultimately in control of the employment opportunities participant...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: Manchester Metropolitan University

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project focuses on exploring the impact of Universal Credit on employers and how it affects businesses, which is directly related to the question about the impact of Universal Credit on employment and the labor market.

  • Welfare integration, labour supply and take-up

    Context Benefits systems are crucial in protecting families and individuals from deprivation, supporting those with health conditions, and reducing inequality, as the covid-19 crisis underlines. As in many other countri...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: Institute for Fiscal Studies

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project examines the impacts of welfare integration, which is related to Universal Credit, on families' benefits claims and work behavior, partially addressing the question about the impact of Universal Credit on individuals' and households' employment and earnings.

  • Conditionality, activation, and welfare-to-work: street-level perspectives on policy and practice

    Policies of 'activation' and 'conditionality' are at the heart of the international welfare reform agenda. In the UK these policies are central features of the ongoing transition to Universal Credit, through which they a...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Sheffield

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project focuses on street-level perspectives on policy and practice related to welfare-to-work, which is not directly relevant to the question about the impact of Universal Credit on employment, earnings, and well-being.

  • Couples balancing work, money and care: exploring the shifting landscape under Universal Credit

    In the context of radical welfare reforms being rolled out under the umbrella of Universal Credit (UC), requiring both partners in a couple with dependent children to look for and enter work, even when one partner is alr...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Bath

  • Universal Basic Income and contemporary welfare policy reform

    My postdoc will translate and apply my PhD research to impact the prominent discussion of UBI in the context of contemporary debates around social security policy and welfare reform. The fellowship will facilitate a numb...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Brighton

  • Welfare at a (Social) Distance: Accessing social security and employment support during the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath

    The benefits system is crucial to supporting people during, and after, the COVID-19 crisis but is under extraordinary pressure from an unprecedented wave of new Universal Credit (UC) applications. The benefits system the...

    Funded by: COVID

    Lead research organisation: University of Salford

  • Encouraging the unemployed into sustained work: experimental evidence from the UK and the US

    In seeking to increase the employment rate in the UK, labour market policy has traditionally focused on encouraging employment entry. However, many people who leave benefit enter poorly-paid, insecure employment and befo...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: National Institute of Economic and Social Research

  • Consumption dynamics and the insurance value of benefits

    Context A central role of the welfare benefits system is to protect families from hardship when they experience an unexpected shock. For instance, someone who loses their job will often become eligible for a benefit paym...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: Institute for Fiscal Studies

  • NIESR Living Standards Evaluation Project

    We propose a interdisciplinary research project into the key drivers of Living Standards, in pro-bono partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). Context and challenges Based on our extensive experience acro...

    Funded by: UKRI

    Lead research organisation: National Institute of Economic and Social Research

    Why might this be relevant?

    Partially relevant as it evaluates the impact of Universal Credit on living standards but does not address all aspects of the question.

  • Assessing the impact of benefit sanctions on health

    The aim of this research is to examine whether benefit sanctions lead to claimants having worse physical or mental health, or making greater use of health services. It also seeks to add to our knowledge on whether sancti...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Glasgow

    Why might this be relevant?

    Partially relevant as it examines the impact of benefit sanctions on health, which is related to the well-being aspect of the question.