Thousands of disabled people ‘will get £2,800 a year less under universal credit’

– gives an overview of the huge change to the benefit system championed by the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith during the coalition government.

The rollout of UC since 2013 has been characterised by technical delays that several parliamentary committees have criticised for driving up the cost of the changes and causing hardship for claimants.

“As a result, seven in 10 working-age families eligible for means-tested benefit support will be worse off under ‘universal credit Britain’ than with the pre-reform system,” it added.

“A renting single parent who works 30 hours per week on the national living wage will be nearly £3,800 per year better off in 2024-25 than if they were on the old system,” the report found.

Alex Clegg, an economist at the Resolution Foundation, said UC was conceived in an era of high unemployment, and was ill-equipped for a post-pandemic age when many claimants were suffering from long-term illnesses and disabilities.

“Alongside efforts from the NHS, education, and labour market policy to address the drivers of ill-health, UC will need to change to tackle Britain’s new challenge of long-term sickness.”