Universal Credit: Iain Duncan Smith's welfare cuts con trick
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has promised that his plans to switch the current system of welfare support into a Universal Credit, will leave nobody poorer.
The idea behind Universal Credit is to simplify administration, increase take-up of entitlements, and make people better off in work. That all sounds good. But can he make a change like this without making people worse off?
On the Today Programme on 17 Feb, he announced: "The Universal Credit will make sure that the poorest in society will be better off..." and that "Nobody will be worse off ... They will be cash-protected..."
This might sound like 'compassionate Conservatism', but is really just a slow motion con trick.
If the introduction of Universal Credit doesn't make people any worse off, it'll merely be because Mr Duncan Smith is busy cramming in as many cuts to welfare support as he can get away with before he has to make good on the promise in 2013. £18 billion of them in fact.
For example, by the time Universal Credit starts in 2013, a family with two children where both adults work full-time for the minimum wage will be over £2,700 a year worse off than they are right now.
The government may be no strangers to going back on promises, but they surely can't expect anyone to fall for a promise that comes pre-broken.
And even then, the promise is next to worthless for many people. Those already on benefits will be protected, but many of those coming onto them just one day later will be hit with lower levels. Or if you are protected and your circumstances change, don't expect a re-assessment to always be as kind.
We're calling Iain Duncan Smith on his con trick.
Please take a moment to add your name to our list of people who see can through his Universal Credit promise
The idea behind Universal Credit is to simplify administration, increase take-up of entitlements, and make people better off in work. That all sounds good. But can he make a change like this without making people worse off?
On the Today Programme on 17 Feb, he announced: "The Universal Credit will make sure that the poorest in society will be better off..." and that "Nobody will be worse off ... They will be cash-protected..."
This might sound like 'compassionate Conservatism', but is really just a slow motion con trick.
If the introduction of Universal Credit doesn't make people any worse off, it'll merely be because Mr Duncan Smith is busy cramming in as many cuts to welfare support as he can get away with before he has to make good on the promise in 2013. £18 billion of them in fact.
For example, by the time Universal Credit starts in 2013, a family with two children where both adults work full-time for the minimum wage will be over £2,700 a year worse off than they are right now.
The government may be no strangers to going back on promises, but they surely can't expect anyone to fall for a promise that comes pre-broken.
And even then, the promise is next to worthless for many people. Those already on benefits will be protected, but many of those coming onto them just one day later will be hit with lower levels. Or if you are protected and your circumstances change, don't expect a re-assessment to always be as kind.
We're calling Iain Duncan Smith on his con trick.
Please take a moment to add your name to our list of people who see can through his Universal Credit promise
Going To Work is a project of the Trades Union Congress (TUC)