Falling between the cracks – the experiences of young parents on Universal Credit

ABSTRACT

Those who become parents at a young age are more likely to have disadvantaged backgrounds such as growing up in low income families or to have experiences of being in care, which means they are more likely to face challenges as they become adults and parents. Despite the disadvantages many young parents face, they are neglected in UK policy, especially in relation to their experiences of the social security system where they receive lower levels of financial support from the state compared with older parents. This article draws on in-depth interview data at two points in time with nine young parents under the age of 25 claiming Universal Credit (drawn from a large sample of couples receiving Universal Credit). The findings show they faced extreme financial disadvantage, housing difficulties and problematic interactions with Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) staff and social services which impacted on their awareness and access to benefits. This article also explores the role of policy, poverty and power in influencing age related experiences of social security.

KEYWORDS:

• Young parents
• Social security
• Universal Credit
• Poverty

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Economic and Social Research Council for funding this study (ES/ R004811/1). I would also like to acknowledge the project team – Professor Jane Millar, Dr Rita Griffiths, Fran Bennett, and Levana Magnus. They have been a great support as I have analysed the research material and developed the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Next Steps survey follows 16,000 young people who were born in 1989/90 in England. See https://nextstepsstudy.org.uk/home/about/ (accessed 07.04.2022).

2 Between 2007 and 2013, 7,153 birth mothers appeared in 15,645 recurrent care application concerning 22,790 babies and children. Half were 24 or younger (Broadhurst and Mason 2017).

3 One more positive support is the family nurse partnership but again there can be barriers to access and variation in service delivery (Datta et al 2017).

4 The standard allowance for a single person under 25 is £265.31 per month, compared to £334.91 for someone over the age of 25. For a couple under 25 it is £416.45 for them both, compared to £525.72 if they are 25 or over. For couples, if one partner is 25 or over both partners will receive the over 25 rate. See Universal Credit: What you'll get – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (accessed 14.09.2022). Between March 2020 and October 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these rates temporarily increased by £86.67. The same increase was applied to single people and couples. There was no increase to the child element of Universal Credit.

5 Scotland for example, has introduced several additional payments for families, especially new parents, including a Best Start grant and the Scottish Child Payment for low-income families with young children, as well as other measures.

6 Dependent children are normally aged 0–16 years and must reside in the same household to be included in the Universal Credit claim. 16–19-year-olds may be included if they remain in full-time non-advanced education or approved training.

7 Council tax reductions for care leavers are discretionary.

8 The scheme started during the pandemic and applications closed on 17th December 2021.

9 See for example, various charities offer specific advice for young parents such as family rights group – Young https://www.frg.org.uk/ypa/; Childline https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/home-families/family-relationships/young-parents/; Gingerbread https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/information/young-single-parents/ ; some have specific education based projects such as Coram’s young parenthood programme https://www.coram.org.uk/supporting-young-people/young-parents

and specific projects, for example https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/young-dads-collective (all accessed 17.01.2022)

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Economic and Social Research Council: [Grant Number ES/R004811/1].