People who are severely disabled and out of work are about £2,800 a year worse off under universal credit compared with the previous benefits system, a leading think tank has estimated.
Analysis by the Resolution Foundation on the impact of universal credit, which started to be rolled out in 2013, found that working renters were the biggest winners from the changes to benefits, while people with disabilities were losing out.
Universal credit was designed to simplify benefits by wrapping six schemes — including jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance and tax credits — into one payment. This year represented a “critical juncture” for the rollout of universal credit, because the migration of claimants on legacy benefits on to the new system was “picking up in
