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Universal Credit analysis
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Date started: 01 June 2010
The government plans to redesign entirely the system of means-tested benefits and tax credits for working-age adults by replacing them all with a single benefit, known as Universal Credit, to be administered by the Department for Work and Pensions. It hopes Universal Credit will simplify the benefit system and strengthen financial incentives to work. This project assesses the plans for Universal Credit against a range of objectives.
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30 September 2012
External publications
Article
Budget Perspectives 2013
Report published by the Economic and Social Research Institute
27 September 2012
Presentations
Article
Benefit integration in the UK: an ex ante analysis of Universal credit
Presentation given at the ESRI, Dublin, 27 September 2012
01 March 2012
Journal Articles
Article
Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis of its impact on incomes and work incentives
Alongside a series of cuts that will reduce welfare spending by £18 billion per year by 2014–15, the UK government announced in November 2010 plans to integrate and simplify means-tested welfare benefits and in-work tax credits for working-age adults into a single programme, to be known as Universal Credit and to be phased in from October 2013.
11 October 2011
IFS Press Releases
Article
Universal Credit not enough to prevent a decade of rising poverty
A new forecast of income poverty among children and working-age adults in the UK has been published today by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
02 March 2011
Presentations
Article
Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis
This presentation was given as part of the CASE Social Exclusion Seminar series.
12 January 2011
Presentations
Article
Universal Credit: impact on work incentives
This presentation was delivered at the IFS Briefing 'Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis' on Wednesday 12 January 2011.
12 January 2011
IFS Press Releases
Article
Universal Credit: much to welcome, but impact on incentives mixed
The Universal Credit will dramatically change the welfare system for working-age adults. If successful, it will make the welfare system more effective and coherent. But it will create winners and losers in the process.
12 January 2011
IFS Briefing Notes
Article
Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis
This Briefing Note analyses Universal Credit as set out in the government's White Paper, Universal Credit: Welfare that Works.
12 January 2011
Presentations
Article
Universal Credit: winners and losers
This presentation was delivered at the IFS Briefing 'Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis' on Wednesday 12 January 2011.
12 January 2011
Presentations
Article
Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis
This presentation was delivered at the IFS Briefing 'Universal Credit: a preliminary analysis' on Wednesday 12 January 2011.
30 September 2010
IFS Briefing Notes
Article
21st Century Welfare: commentary on, and response to, the Government's consultation on welfare reform
We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a more integrated benefit and tax system, and then discuss issues relating to strengthening work incentives.
30 September 2010
Observations
Article
Reforming welfare: less haste, more detail please
The consultation period on the Government's ideas for fundamental reforms to the benefits system ends on 1 October. Integrating all benefits and tax credits should create a system which is simpler for both claimants and government, but the Government will need to explain much more clearly how a Universal Credit would work and how much different groups of recipients will get if we are to have an informed debate on its merits.
27 May 2010
Observations
Article
What can be done to simplify benefits and strengthen work incentives?
Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, today gave a little more detail on the Government's plans for welfare reform, suggesting that the benefit system needed simplifying, incentives to work strengthening, and welfare-to-work programmes reforming . But what can actually be done?
01 April 2010
Book Chapters
Article
Means testing and tax rates on earnings
Dimensions of Tax Design brings together a high-profile group of more than fifty international experts and younger researchers.

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Mike Brewer
James Browne
Wenchao (Michelle) Jin