Project Overview

The project aims to provide new insight into the extent to which DWP employment support delivered through UC helps claimants secure good employment opportunities with prospects for progression.

Universal credit has reshaped the government’s approach to supporting low-income individuals by introducing job search requirements and encouraging low-paid claimants to boost their earnings. By the time it is fully rolled out eight million people in the UK will receive it, and of those, around half will be required to participate some kind of in work-search.

Both out-of-work and in-work claimants must meet conditions set by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), including work-focused interviews and job searches, with the risk of sanctions for non-compliance.

However, little is known about how interactions with work coaches affect claimants’ job quality and career progression. While stricter benefit conditions may help improve skills, they could also push claimants into jobs that don’t match their abilities.

Project Outcomes

This project aims to provide new evidence about:

• The nature of, and variation in, UC employment support provided to out-of-work and in-work claimants.
• The range of UC claimants’ experiences of employment support, including interactions with work coaches and the degree of variation in the service received.
• The impact this support has on claimants’ prospects for advancement and the quality of their jobs, as well as their interactions with employers.
• The extent to which UC (as it is currently designed and delivered) offers a solution to, or exacerbates, low pay in the UK.
• The policy changes needed to improve claimant chances of finding good work with opportunities for progression in the future.

We hope that this new evidence can make a contribution to improving DWP policy and practice, as well as the efforts of other employment support providers. In so doing, this project has the potential to enhance the earning prospects of millions of claimants and address the long-standing issue of low pay in the UK.

Partner Organisations

Nuffield Foundation, University of Birmingham, and Keele University.