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Britain's jobseekers' benefit reform receives mixed response

Xinhua, May 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Some experts and officials on Tuesday raised doubts as a new British welfare reform was extended to cover single jobseeker.

Universal Credit, described as having the "potential to be the most important public sector change project for decades," currently replaces six different benefits.

By 2020-21, the new scheme aims to account for 78 billion U.S. dollars a year of Britain's welfare budget, about a quarter of total welfare spend.

Over 450,000 Britons have made a claim to Universal Credit so far, with over 9,500 new claims made every week.

The Department for Work and Pensions says universal credit is revolutionizing the welfare state by making work pay and transforming lives across the country, with claimants moving into work faster and earning more than under the old system.

But a leading think-tank, the Resolution Foundation published a report Tuesday claiming millions of people will be up to 4,100 U.S. dollars a year worse off under the new reforms.

The Foundation said recent changes which, it claims are driven by a government desire to secure further savings in the welfare budget, have taken the much trumpeted Universal Credit too far from its original purpose.

It warns that unless design flaws are eradicated, Universal Credit risks being reduced to little more than a very complicated vehicle for cutting the state benefits bill.

Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb defended the reform, saying: "Universal Credit is transforming welfare and is central to our vision for our society where people of all backgrounds can earn a decent wage and provide for their families, with claimants moving into work faster and earning more than under the old system. Our focus now is on continuing its expansion to all claimants."

Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud said: "The driving force of our reforms was to create a welfare system that allows people to break free of dependency and move into work."

Resolution Foundation's senior economic analyst David Finch in Tuesday's report urges Crabb to restate and reclaim the role of Universal Credit, rather than being a source of savings for the Treasury to meet fiscal targets.

Opposition Labor MP and shadow welfare secretary Owen Smith, commenting on the Resolution report, said: "This report confirms the devastating impact of Tory cuts to Universal Credit that will leave 2.5 million working families worse off."

Smith said if Crabb fails to respond to the report's conclusions "no one can be in any doubt that he is working against the interest of low and middle-paid working people, who are already struggling to make ends meet." Enditem