Inflexibility in an integrated system? Policy challenges posed by the design of universal credit

It is now over a decade since Universal Credit was first proposed – thus, time to assess what it means for the future of the UK’s social security system. Fran Bennett and Jane Millar investigate the limitations imposed on future reforms to Universal Credit by its monthly assessment, its unitary nature, and its automated calculation. They argue that developing an integrated and automated Universal Credit has created a juggernaut of mass means testing, which is difficult to halt in its tracks or steer in different and more desirable directions, and which limits policymakers’ bandwidth for focusing on other crucial elements of a comprehensive social security system.