Parliament debates impact of austerity on women
9 December 2015: Topics covered in the debate, which lasted three hours, included the gender pay gap, benefit changes, and occupational segregation
UK Policy Briefing
This briefing is an overview of the gender impact of the Universal Credit system
The Chancellor has announced that the waiting time for Universal Credit payments will be cut from six weeks. This is welcome news, but fails to address the many other significant problems that exist with Universal Credit.
This briefing is an overview of the gender impact of the Universal Credit system. UC was introduced in 2013 and is being rolled out across the country in stages until full implementation in 2022. It replaces six means-tested benefits and tax credits with one single monthly means-tested payment.
The main goals in introducing UC were to simplify the benefits system and ‘to make work pay’.[1] It is hard to find anyone who disagrees with such broad objectives – although there are in our view better ways of trying to achieve them than redesigning means-tested benefits in this way.
However, in addition, a series of problems in the design of UC from the beginning, made worse by subsequent cuts, seriously undermine these objectives.
As a result of the cuts to spending on Universal Credit:
9 December 2015: Topics covered in the debate, which lasted three hours, included the gender pay gap, benefit changes, and occupational segregation
The UK government's Domestic Abuse Bill, while praised for its comprehensive approach to abuse, lacks adequate protection for migrant and BAME women.
Low-income black and Asian women bear the brunt of austerity, facing disproportionate losses in income due to tax and benefit changes.
Join the Women’s Budget Group as we launch our new report on the causes and consequences of women’s poverty.