Skip to main content

Lords Committee hears evidence on the economics of Universal Credit

20 February 2020

The Economic Affairs Committee holds its first evidence session on the economics of Universal Credit

Witnesses

Tuesday 25 February in Committee Room 1, Palace of Westminster

At 3.35pm

  • Dr Ruth Cain, Senior lecturer at the University of Kent
  • Professor John Hills, Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics
  • Giles Elliot, Advice Service Manager at Manchester Mind

At 4.35pm

  • Tom Waters, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
  • Dr Katy Jones, Senior Research Associate at Manchester Metropolitan University

Likely questions

  • How well does Universal Credit provide social security for claimants?
  • Should the primary aim of a social security system be to get more households working? Or should the central aim be the reduction of in-work poverty?
  • What impact does Universal Credit have on different groups of claimants?
  • What anxieties and mental health problems have people reported because of Universal Credit?
  • How have employers reacted to Universal Credit?
  • What impact does Universal Credit have on different groups over the short-run and the long-run?
  • What effect has fiscal retrenchment had on the ability of the Universal Credit programme to successfully deliver its objectives?
  • What reforms would you like to see the Government make to Universal Credit? Is it feasible to scrap it? 

Further information

Image: Roger Harris