Abstract
To cut the deficit, the UK government has increasingly turned to cuts in working age welfare.
To date, it has operated a ‘salami slicing’ approach: cutting or capping out of work benefit entitlements, in-work tax credits and Child Benefit. This has been combined with dis-entitling some groups from benefits through tougher testing or changing the rules of entitlement, for example limiting access to some disability benefits to a year where the person has some other income sources and removing Child Benefit for better off families with children.At the same time, those claiming out of work benefits face the threat of more severe sanctions where they fail to comply with stringent job search requirements.
This Policy Brief, by two leading labour market and welfare reform researchers at the University of Bath (Professor Paul Gregg and Dr Susan Harkness), examines two of the latest developments in Coalition policy that were announced in the 2013 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR): extending the period between leaving work and being entitled to receive benefit payments; and extending restrictions on benefit for lone parents to those with younger children.
The Policy Brief assesses the implications for future developments in the area of welfare reform.
To date, it has operated a ‘salami slicing’ approach: cutting or capping out of work benefit entitlements, in-work tax credits and Child Benefit. This has been combined with dis-entitling some groups from benefits through tougher testing or changing the rules of entitlement, for example limiting access to some disability benefits to a year where the person has some other income sources and removing Child Benefit for better off families with children.At the same time, those claiming out of work benefits face the threat of more severe sanctions where they fail to comply with stringent job search requirements.
This Policy Brief, by two leading labour market and welfare reform researchers at the University of Bath (Professor Paul Gregg and Dr Susan Harkness), examines two of the latest developments in Coalition policy that were announced in the 2013 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR): extending the period between leaving work and being entitled to receive benefit payments; and extending restrictions on benefit for lone parents to those with younger children.
The Policy Brief assesses the implications for future developments in the area of welfare reform.
Original language | English |
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Publisher | University of Bath |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2013 |