{"id":53931,"date":"2015-02-15T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-15T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=f16fe1607553b76c7edfee5840b301d3"},"modified":"2015-02-15T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T08:30:00","slug":"press-release-universal-credit-makes-work-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=53931","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Universal Credit makes work pay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/universal-credit\">Read more about Universal Credit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/apply-universal-credit\">Apply for Universal Credit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jobcentres, from the rural Highlands of Scotland, down through the Vale of York and into London, are moving over to the new benefit. <\/p>\n<p>As part of the accelerated roll out announced by the Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith in September, over 150 Jobcentres will come on board in the next 2 months. It will then be available in all Jobcentres by this time next year.<\/p>\n<p>And on the eve of this national roll out, new research shows that Universal Credit is getting people into work more quickly and so helping them to earn more.<\/p>\n<p>Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This government\u2019s welfare reforms have saved the taxpayer \u00a350 billion and restored fairness to the system.<\/p>\n<p>The centrepiece of these reforms \u2013 Universal Credit \u2013 begins national roll out tomorrow. This landmark event is a key part of our long term economic plan, which guarantees you will always be better off in work than on benefits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">The evidence today shows that under Universal Credit, people move into work more quickly and earn more money, giving them increased financial security. It is very impressive that we have seen these results so soon and that this is having a real impact on people\u2019s lives. This is a cultural change which will alter the landscape of work for a generation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=E7GUu7Xa7Nw\">What is Universal Credit?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The research shows that, over a 4 month period, claimants are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>13% more likely to have been in work than those on Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance<\/li>\n<li>earning more money<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Similar to previous findings, the report also confirms that new Universal Credit claimants in the expanded sites are more likely than Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance claimants to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>believe the benefit system is encouraging them to find work<\/li>\n<li>take any job they are able to do<\/li>\n<li>spend more time looking for work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once fully rolled out, Universal Credit will boost the economy by \u00a37 billion every year. <\/p>\n<p>Universal Credit eventually replaces 6 existing income-based benefits \u2013 Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Working and Child Tax Credits and Housing Benefit. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-research\">The research<\/h2>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/universal-credit-at-work\">Universal Credit at Work \u2013 spring 2015<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The research was carried out by tracking claimants from July 2013 to April 2014 in the areas of: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Warrington<\/li>\n<li>Wigan<\/li>\n<li>Oldham <\/li>\n<li>Ashton-under-Lyne <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These results based on income data from Real Time Information (RTI) were compared to a similar group of Jobseeker\u2019s Allowance claimants.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"universal-credit-claims\">Universal Credit claims<\/h2>\n<p>More than 50,000 people have already made a claim to Universal Credit. It is available in 96 jobcentres including all of the north-west and is available to couples too. Claims from families and lone parents are also being taken in 32 sites.<\/p>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p>Read the list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/universal-credit-national-expansion\">places where Universal Credit will be available between February and July 2015<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"contact-press-office\">Contact Press Office<\/h2>\n<p>Media enquiries for this press release \u2013 020 3267 5144<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_827\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Press Office<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"street-address\">Caxton House<br \/>\n<br \/>\nTothill Street<\/span><br \/><span class=\"locality\">London<\/span><br \/><span class=\"postal-code\">SW1H 9NA<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">London Press Office (national media and London area enquiries only \u2013 not questions about personal claims)<\/span><br \/>\n              020 3267 5144\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out-of-hours (journalists only)<\/span><br \/>\n              076 59 108 883\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">England and Wales (local media enquiries)<\/span><br \/>\n              029 20 586 then 097 or 098 or 099\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Scotland (local media enquiries)<\/span><br \/>\n              0131 310 1122\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow <abbr title=\"Department for Work and Pensions\">DWP<\/abbr> on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twitter \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/dwppressoffice\">www.twitter.com\/dwppressoffice<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>Facebook \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dwp\">www.facebook.com\/dwp<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>LinkedIn \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dwp\">www.linkedin.com\/company\/dwp<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>YouTube \u2013 <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/dwp\">www.youtube.com\/dwp<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The national roll out of Universal Credit begins on 16 February 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53931"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53959,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53931\/revisions\/53959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}