Universal credit linked to rise in psychological stress, study finds

Failure to modify benefit is likely to increase pressure on NHS, researchers say.

Universal credit is linked to an increase in “psychological stress” among the jobless people who claim it, according the first major study to quantify the impact of the government’s flagship welfare system on mental health.

The study found the introduction of universal credit across the UK was associated with a 6.6 percentage point increase in mental health issues among recipients compared with a comparison group who were in employment or retired.

This was the equivalent of an estimated 63,674 unemployed recipients experiencing significant forms of mental distress after signing up to the benefit, of whom a third were likely to have become clinically depressed, researchers concluded.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/27/universal-credit-linked-psychological-stress-increase-study-benefits-uk

How shameful. Britain’s brutal benefit system is causing mental distress.

Research shows that instead of providing a safety net, government policies hurt vulnerable people like Errol Graham, who starved to death.

To build a humane social security system, Britain must not only work to provide benefit claimants with enough to live on but to start believing that their lives count. “Please judge me fairly” is a message that betrays more than it first appears.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/04/britain-benefit-system-generating-mental-distress-errol-graham