A decade on: Walking the sharp edge of the UK’s social security system - Amanda Light and Ruth Patrick

The collision of austerity and a punitive approach to welfare reform have seen a drastic and far-reaching hollowing out of provision, which left the welfare state in poor health to respond to Covid-19 and then the cost-of-living crisis. [...] The coming months and years will see Labour’s approach to social security unfold, and it will be vital to closely monitor how individuals are affected by reforms and changes, and to keep sight of how individuals have been changed by the welfare reforms that pre-date Labour, and it is to an exploration of just that, to which this paper now turns. [...] However, in the case of Susan, and for most of the people we interviewed, there are strong orientations to move into and progress in employment, and so the threat of sanctions operates as an unnecessary but harmful feature of the social security regime. [...] One of the key barriers to finding secure employment was because of the gaps in Robert’s CV that were created, and hard to keep track of, due to 26 the amount of short-term insecure jobs, and regular signing on and off to JSA. [...] ➢ Acknowledge the extent and nature of distrust and disillusionment with politicians, and look to develop more participatory approaches to policymaking, which work with and alongside the realities of people’s lives.