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Benefits sanctions ineffective, authors of major study say

Tuesday 22 May 2018

CHANGES to the benefits system have been largely ineffective and in some cases have pushed people into poverty and crime, a major study involving academics from the University of Salford has found.

Welfare conditionality links eligibility for welfare benefits and services to responsibilities or particular patterns of behaviour, under threat of sanction for non-compliance. It has been a key element of welfare state reform in many countries since the mid-1990s.

Supporters say the use of sanctions and support is aneffective way of weaning people off benefits and into paid work, or addressinganti-social behaviour.

However, critics argue that behavioural conditionality is largely ineffective in promoting paid employment and personal responsibility,and is likely to exacerbate social exclusion among disadvantaged populations.

The WelCond project, led by the University of York and involving the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Salford, Sheffield Hallam and Heriot-Watt, analysed the effectiveness, impact and ethics of welfare conditionality from 2013-2018.

Roll-out of Universal Credit

With the controversial roll-out of Universal Credit and the government’s new Work and Health programme launched at the end of last year, now is the right time for policy makers to listen to the evidence from studies examining how welfare conditionality affects people’s lives

Dr Lisa Scullion, who leads the University of Salford’s involvement in the project, said: “With the controversial roll-out of Universal Credit and the government’s new Work and Health programme launched at the end of last year, now is the right time for policy makers to listen to the evidence from studies examining how welfare conditionality affects people’s lives.

“I also hope the results of this study will feed into work taking place to  develop employment support initiatives here in Greater Manchester.”

The findings are based on repeat longitudinal interviews undertaken with 339 people in England and Scotland and drawn from nine policy areas, including Universal Credit,disabled people, migrants, lone parents, offenders and homeless people.

Some pushed into survival crime

Key findings include:

The report quotes a homeless man who says he was forced into drug dealing due to welfare conditionality, while a disabled woman said she“sunk into depression” as a result of benefit sanctions.

The authors of the report say it is time for a “comprehensive review” of the use of welfare conditionality.

Not getting people into work

Professor Peter Dwyer, the Project Director from the University of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work, said: “Our review reveals that in the majority of cases welfare conditionality doesn’t work as intended and we have evidence it has increased poverty and pushed some people into survival crime.

“What also became apparent was people were focusing on meeting the conditions of their benefit claim and that became their job – it is totally counter-productive.

“You are just making people do things to meet the conditions of the claim rather than getting them into work.”

“Successive governments have used welfare conditionality and the ‘carrot and stick’ it implies to promote positive behaviour change.

“Our review has shown it is out of kilter, with the idea of sanctioning people to the fore. It is more stick, very little carrot and much of the support is ineffective.”

Reduce severity of sanctions 

Other key recommendations include: