Benefit cuts are not a 'pathway to work' – they risk making people homeless

Next week MPs are set to vote on a package of measures designed to cut the benefits bill by £5 billion as the government’s ‘Pathways to Work’ green paper goes through the House of Commons.

The cuts are targeting health-related benefits such as personal independence payments (PIP) and the health element of universal credit. These benefits are essential to our clients who are experiencing homelessness at the same time as managing physical and mental health conditions. Last year, 75% of our clients had a mental health support need, while 59% had a physical health support need. The proposed reforms will limit who can claim these much-needed benefits as well as cutting how much people receive.

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As a frontline homelessness charity, St Mungo’s sees just how significant these benefits are to the people we support. It’s often the thin line between dignity and destitution. Many of our clients with multiple disadvantages, who are currently entitled to these benefits, are already struggling to make ends meet. We also know there are many people who without these benefits would not be able to avoid falling into, or falling back into, homelessness. And of course, as well as the human cost to those it impacts, homelessness also has a financial cost to the government.

Earlier this month we wrote an open letter to the government along with 13 other homelessness organisations, urging a rethink of these reforms.

People are reliant on these benefits to enable them to manage their health conditions; they are a vital lifeline that make it possible to travel to medical appointments, pay for essentials such as food and utilities, and unlock access to other grants, schemes and exemptions. They’re essential for paying for counselling which can stabilise somebody’s mental health. Without being able to afford or access these services, we know it will be even harder for people to end their homelessness and rebuild their lives.

At St Mungo’s we see the positive change in people’s lives when they receive PIP and universal credit under the current system. Maciej, one of our clients, was working as a chef, leading a stable and happy life, until his life was turned upside down when he lost his parents and his wife. Maciej’s mental health imploded, leading him to become homeless for eight years. His mental and physical health deteriorated further.

With St Mungo’s support, Maciej was able to access PIP and a range of other support to help him recover. With PIP, Maciej is able to pay for taxis to work when his sciatica makes it difficult for him to travel. This has been essential to sustaining his recovery, and enabling him to continue working part-time in hospitality for four years. Maciej now lives in supported accommodation and, with the support of St Mungo’s and the payments he receives through PIP, is able to manage his health conditions. Maciej’s story encapsulates the practical significance of these benefits for people recovering from homelessness.

Read more:

• ‘I was barely existing before PIP’: Claimants say they’re ‘terrified’ of Labour’s benefit cuts
• ‘I am not a scrounger’: Paralympic champions blast Labour over disability benefit cuts
• Inside the food banks seeing ‘highest demand ever seen’ as cost of living harms families

In its green paper, the government claims to want to establish a thriving and inclusive labour market that gives people the opportunities and support they need to get back to work. This is an ambition with which we wholeheartedly agree, because we know how important work is for people – particularly as part of their recovery from homelessness. Sixty-three percent of our clients want to work so they can gain the independence needed to rebuild their lives. PIP helps many of them to do this. And yet, according to the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) own data, an estimated 250,000 people will fall into poverty because of these measures – including those affected by homelessness.

It is not only the direct loss of income that will impact people. The loss of PIP might also mean the loss of their exemption from the benefit cap and therefore a further reduction in income. With rents being as high as they are, we fear that this will result in more people being unable to afford their rent and more people losing their homes – potentially those who have already been homeless before.

In short, these welfare cuts will drive homelessness by increasing the number of people at risk of becoming homeless for the first time, increasing the number of people whose homelessness has been resolved fall back into it, and increasing how long it takes to help people out of homelessness in the future as they struggle to find affordable housing without the additional income from PIP. In each of these scenarios, people will be driven further from the labour market, not nearer.

Whatever happens, St Mungo’s will be here for our clients – supporting them through the challenges that lie ahead. But we need the government to avoid making that job harder, or making the already too-high number of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness greater. We therefore urge the government to consider the consequences of these proposed reforms for those already pushed to the brink by homelessness.

Emma Haddad is chief executive of St Mungo’s.

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