We need to move beyond conditionality

A three month suspension of conditions and sanctions for Universal Credit recipients ends today. Brought in when the UK went into Covid-19 lockdown, the suspension meant that claimants would not need to attend meetings at Jobcentre Plus offices, complete the tasks in their ‘claimant commitment’, such as a fixed number of job-search hours per week, or face sanctions, where part or all of their benefits could be withdrawn due to non-compliance.

The reinstatement of conditionality and sanctions today is hard to comprehend. Do ministers think that the labour market has bounced back, and there is an ample supply of good quality jobs across the country? Has the grace period, in which benefit claimants were recognised as not being at fault but rather at the mercy of much wider forces, now been deemed unnecessary, and the unemployed are now to blame again for being out of work?

Vacancy numbers fell off a cliff in March, and there are currently 9 jobseekers for every vacancy. Over 9 million jobs are currently furloughed. As furlough is withdrawn, these employees will not all move seamlessly back into their jobs; many are in hard-hit sectors like tourism and hospitality, and many will be made redundant. To enforce conditions and sanctions in this climate is nonsensical.

But this policy was never really based on sense or evidence, rather a set of flawed beliefs about why people need benefits and how to move them into work. Last year I wrote a report for Autonomy on the failings of Universal Credit, highlighting its key flaws: it is punitive, paternalistic, irrational and ineffective. A major study into conditionality found not only does it not deliver its aims of moving people more quickly off benefits and into work, for some people it contributes to far worse outcomes such as crime and poor health.

The basis of the policy is the idea that those out of work are lazy, not fully committed to finding work, and are fully responsible as individuals for their predicament. If Covid-19 has taught us nothing else, it has shown that we are all at risk from social and economic forces beyond our control. It has made clear the corrosive narratives underpinning our benefits policy, and reinforced more than ever the need for reform.

(c) Anna Dent 2020. I provide social research, policy analysis and development, writing and expert opinion, and project development in Good Work and the Future of Work / In-Work Poverty and Progression / Welfare benefits / Ethical technology / Skills / Inclusive growth