'Universal credit claimants are working to support their families. But the system is not'

Last year, as a full-time working single parent of three campaigning to end child poverty, I sparked controversy by sharing that the biggest number accompanying my corporate job wasn’t my salary, but my £2,900 monthly childcare bill.  

Add to that £2,000 for rent, and suddenly my £2,800 monthly net income isn’t looking so decent anymore.

But what infuriated many wasn’t the salary-swallowing childcare fees and rent.

Read more:

• I’m a single working mum relying on credit to pay bills. Universal credit isn’t enough
• Scrapping the two-child limit was just the start. The child poverty strategy has to go further
• DWP to hire 500 new Access to Work case workers – but will it save the scheme?

Rather, it was the fact that universal credit (UC) entitled me to around £3,000 per month to support with those costs.  

I shared because real numbers were missing from the conversation. 

And I find all these numbers shocking, including the universal credit entitlement, which still isn’t enough for people to afford their essentials. But what’s alarming isn’t a parent claiming support to work.  What’s alarming is the skyrocketing costs that make this support necessary – and how quickly all of it disappears into rent, childcare and bills, leaving nothing in the claimant’s account but a paper trail of shame and stigma.

Some see my universal credit entitlement and conclude the UK’s welfare system is too generous.  Others feel it’s selfish of me to claim that much help.

Yet few are willing to discuss what these numbers say about our economy – and what needs to change.

Many ask why taxpayers should foot the bill, overlooking that millions of claimants are also taxpayers. Official figures show that in December 2025, 32% of universal credit claimants were working. That’s 2.7 million people. The IPPR’s new Work isn’t Working report shows that 72% of children in poverty are in working families, having increased steadily 44% in 1997.

To be clear, my intention is not to elevate working claimants above others.  We all deserve access to the safety net when needed. But as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ramps up efforts to build the workforce, we need to know that work provides economic security.

But for many working claimants, it doesn’t – and the data shows that financial insecurity also persists throughout the workforce, beyond those on UC. Almost half of working age adults do not have a workplace or private pension, with many forced to prioritise day-to-day survival.

Last year, financial wellbeing specialist WEALTH at Work reported that of 2,000 employees surveyed, 42% were worried about covering unexpected costs, 37% about the inability to save for the future, 34% about difficulty paying essential bills, and 29% about debt. They also found money worries increased stress, mental and physical exhaustion, and sickness absence.   

I can relate:  last year, I was signed off for eight weeks with stress and anxiety. When I returned, I applied for flexible working because I’d realised the time and energy needed to deal with poverty were damaging my health. 

The rise in workplace sickness and presenteeism – where unwell employees work through illness at a lower capacity, instead of taking medical leave – doesn’t just impact health and put pressure on the NHS; it costs employers around £100 billion annually. 

So why is financial insecurity still treated as a private problem?

WEALTH at work found despite widespread financial stress, 87% of workers were not comfortable discussing financial difficulties with their employer.  

This year, Policy in Practice estimates that £24.1 billion in benefits and financial support will go unclaimed, partly due to shame and stigma around welfare. 

Is the same stigma that discourages families from claiming universal credit also locking financial health out of workplace wellbeing conversations? 

A universal credit statement is never a personal indictment – it’s economic information. If millions of workers rely on benefits to survive, and still more are struggling, the shame belongs not to claimants or workers, but an economic model that increasingly fails to make work pay.

And pointing to individuals distracts from systemic problems.  For example: the UK has some of the highest childcare costs in the world. Parents must pay these costs upfront and claim them back – increasing entitlements and turning a national failure into a personal one. IPPR’s proposed co-payment model would reduce the financial risk and admin burden for parents – as well as the misleading impression that childcare support is disposable income.

Last year for my job I attended the CIPD Festival of Work, a major annual conference for employers. In his keynote address, CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese attributed the UK’s falling birthrate to the workforce being unable to afford children.

Having visited a food bank that week, it was striking to hear a leading authority on employment validate my experience. And I realised that campaigning for anti-poverty measures – stronger social security, fair wages, affordable housing and childcare, and a fairer tax system that taxes wealth effectively – is not so separate from workplace wellbeing.

Soaring costs impact everyone. Whatever your views on welfare, I doubt many parents will look at a £2,900 nursery bill and think “the system works”.

And when millions of working people are forced to rely on benefits to continue working, one thing is certain: people are not the problem.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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