Welfare Sanctions and Conditionality in the UK

Conditional welfare arrangements require people to behave in a certain way to access cash benefits, housing or support services. These conditions tend to be enforced through penalties or ‘sanctions’ that reduce, suspend or end access to these goods. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has produced a round-up which considers how effective welfare conditionality is, what the impacts are, how different groups fare, and to what extent it can be morally justified. Download the report from the JRF website.

Benefit Sanctions Shoot Up Under New Regime

The number of benefit claimants getting hit by sanctions has risen sharply since the introduction of a tougher regime last year, figures reveal.  Statistics released by the DWP show between November 2012 (the first full month of the new sanctions) and June 2013 there were 553,000 sanctions. This compares to 499,000 between November 2011 and June 2012 – an 11 per cent rise.  Julia Unwin, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: ‘Figures show that half a million people face the threat of destitution as their benefits are taken away in a bid to mould behaviour and encourage people to take jobs. International evidence is that while conditionality, has its uses, it is a blunt and uncertain instrument for driving behaviour. The threat of destitution is a poorly evidenced high risk way of trying to influence the behaviour of the poorest people in the country.” Read more on Inside Housing.