Couples navigating work, care and Universal Credit

Universal Credit is a fundamental reform of means-tested working age benefits in the UK. It aims to simplify benefits, reduce administrative costs and fraud and error, increase work entry and encourage higher earnings among low-income people. The first stages of the rollout involved single people, meaning that we know much less about the experiences of couples on Universal Credit – in relation to either issues with a potential impact on all claimants, or those specific to couples. Our three-year, two phase, ESRC-funded longitudinal qualitative research project, entitled Couples balancing work, money and care: Exploring the shifting landscape under Universal Credit, helps to fill that gap.

Based on the lived experience of 90 research participants interviewed in 2018/19, 63 of whom were then interviewed again in 2020, the project examined how couples claiming Universal Credit - with and without dependent children, and in and out of employment - made decisions about work and care and dealt with their household finances. Their first-person accounts offer a unique insight into the experiences of a group of Universal Credit claimants that have, thus far, received too little attention in policy research and discussion. 

This is the second of two reports arising from our research. Our first report focused on household money and budgeting in the context of monthly assessment and a single monthly Universal Credit award (Griffiths et al., 2020). This report presents the phase 2 findings focusing on work-care decisions and experiences of employment transitions over time in the context of Universal Credit.