Universal Credit is the all in one super means-tested benefit being introduced gradually in the UK to replace six means-tested benefits and tax credits. Couples currently make up about 20 per cent of Universal Credit claimants; but the numbers and proportion will increase in future. So it is important to be thinking ahead to what will face these claimant couples and how potential problems can be avoided.
Fran Bennett will introduce Universal Credit and highlight some of the key issues relevant to couples claiming it, in relation to work, care and household finances. She will present the findings to date of the ESRC-funded project on Universal Credit and Couples which is using longitudinal qualitative research methods and in which she is a Co-Investigator. She will draw on these findings in order to discuss their implications for future policy and practice.

• ESRC-funded research project: www.bath.ac.uk/projects/couples-balancing-work-money-and-care-exploring-the-shifting-landscape-under-universal-credit
  Research report, June 2020, Uncharted territory, Universal Credit, couples and money: www.bath.ac.uk/publications/uncharted-territory-universal-credit-couples-and-money