Does Universal Credit alleviate or
exacerbate poverty rates? How have different groups of women been
affected by the roll-out of Universal Credit? These are among the
questions the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will be
asking two panels of witnesses on Tuesday 3 March
2020.
The first session will begin at
3.35pm. Giving evidence will
be:
-
Josephine Tucker, Head of Policy
and Research at the Child Poverty Action
Group
-
Garry Lemon, Director of Policy,
External Affairs and Research at the Trussell
Trust
-
Iain Porter, Social Security
Policy and Partnerships Manager at the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation
-
Dr Matthew Sowemimo, Head of
Public Affairs and Social Policy at the
Salvation Army.
Questions the Committee is likely
to ask include:
-
Who has benefitted from Universal
Credit? Who has lost out?
-
The Committee has heard evidence that
the poorest 10% have lost most from the introduction of
Universal Credit. What should the Government have been doing to
prevent the poorest being hit
hardest?
-
What effect has Universal Credit had on
child poverty rates?
-
Has Universal Credit successfully
tackled in-work poverty?
-
In what ways does poverty affect
people’s physical and mental
health?
The second session will begin at
4.35pm. Giving evidence will
be:
-
Marilyn Howard, Honorary Research
Association at the University of Bristol Law School and member
of the Women’s Budget Group
-
Laura Dewar, Policy Officer at
Gingerbread
-
Dr Rita Griffiths, Research
Fellow at the University of
Bath.
Questions the Committee is likely
to ask include:
-
Does the design of Universal Credit hinder certain groups
of women from entering and/or progressing in the labour
market?
-
What effect has this extension of
Universal Credit’s conditionality to the entire household had
on different groups of
women?
-
How well does Universal Credit
provide help towards childcare
costs?
-
Is the single payment system
likely to lead to financial
abuse?
-
What examples are there of
welfare systems from other countries that have provided better
social security for women?
These evidence sessions,
which are open to the public, will start at 3.35pm on Tuesday 3
March 2020 in Committee Room 1 of the House of
Lords.
