Phee and her son (Photo: Phee Waterfield)

Universal Credit, the controversial benefit payment system, is back in the spotlight.

Yesterday four women – three represented by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) – challenged the government on issues concerning its ‘rigid assessment period system’.

They are also arguing that the system is discriminatory because it disproportionately affects single parents, who are mainly female.

As a single parent moving onto the Universal Credit system, I can’t say I’m jumping for joy. In fact, the last time I felt so much dread was before I went into labour.


Already, the process has been tiresome. I have done one application, but have had to use four different channels – laptop, mobile, landline and in-person interview.



With a three-month-old baby, this isn’t exactly practical. In fact, in the time it has taken me, I could have done two feeds, one nappy change and my son could have had a nap.

There’s also the dreaded six-week delay for payment. While I could apply for early payment, there’s no guarantee I’d get it. There’s just too much fog around something that should be bringing clarity to UK families – single parents or not.

Danielle Johnson, one of the women going to the High Court, is a single mother who works part-time as a dinner lady and receives Universal Credit to top up her income.

There’s just too much fog around something that should be bringing clarity to UK families.

She is paid on the last working day of the month, like nearly everyone else in the UK.

However, her monthly Universal Credit assessment periods run from the last day of each month, meaning that if she is paid before then – because payment falls on a weekend or non-banking day – she is assessed as having been paid twice that month, and not at all the next month.

This has resulted in her receiving fluctuating payments throughout the year, putting her in an unstable financial situation.

Johnson commented ahead of attending court: ‘Universal Credit is supposed to be simpler and fairer, but my experience of it is the opposite.

‘I’m doing my best working part-time to make ends meet so that I can look after my daughter. I thought the government was supposed to help and support people like me trying to get back to work but I have found it to be the opposite.’

Unfortunately, these women are not alone. According to Gingerbread, a charity focused on single parents, one of the most damaging effects of Universal Credit to single parent families has been the instability it causes, including delays in payments and errors in calculating amounts.

Not only does this negatively impact financial situations, but it also affects emotional wellbeing: increasing levels of stress, anxiety and depression. With one in four people in the UK suffering from mental health issues, this is quite alarming.

Like Gingerbread and the women tackling this in court, I believe that the Universal Credit benefits system needs to improve. Not only with its assessment criteria, but it also needs to be much more flexible with payments.



When we start a new job, we would never accept waiting for six weeks for our first pay packet, so why does the government expect us to do the same for benefits?

Let’s face it: single parents, whether by choice or not, have enough to be dealing with without having to worry about when they’ll get their benefits paid to them.

As I write this article, I’m bouncing between breastfeeding, burping and typing. Quite frankly, I could do without the additional worry of Universal Credit, but, like many others, I now rely on it to look after myself and my son.

The system not only needs to be simple to use, efficient and flexible with its payments – it needs to work for everyone, especially those most vulnerable in society.

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