CPAG in Scotland’s Early Warning System has been operating for ten years! Over Challenge Poverty Week we will look back at some of the social security events in this period, key findings from the Early Warning System and how they have influenced policy and practise. Looking ahead we will identify how Early Warning System evidence and analysis can inform the future shape of social security at UK, Scotland and local level.
Digital aspects of universal credit (UC) routinely lead to wrong amounts being awarded to claimants – often the most vulnerable - and to breaches of rule-of-law principles, new Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) research finds.
It has long been the case that having a second earner can change the risk of a family being in poverty. But it is not easy to take on paid work, and families often face lots of barriers. What are these barriers? What effect do they have on parents’ ability to work? And what role has CPAG’s Your Work Your Way project, with its tailored support approach, had in supporting potential second earners into work?
This report highlights findings from the Early Warning System and meetings with organisations supporting refugees about experiences of claiming universal credit and some of the difficulties encountered.
An update to the report we published at the beginning of 2021 highlighting that delays carrying out assessments for disability benefits meant that many disabled people were not receiving or were losing support intended to help them meet the additional costs of their disability.
This report highlights that delays carrying out assessments for benefits mean that many disabled people are not receiving, or are losing support, intended to help them meet the additional costs of ill health or disability.
Our submission highlights that children who already faced a higher risk of poverty have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and will be particularly vulnerable during economic recession. Rising child poverty places high costs on society as a whole. It should therefore be of the utmost priority that families with children are able to easily access adequate financial support.
This report focuses on social security issues during lock down, highlighting problems making and maintaining claims without support, difficulties participating telephone assessments and appeals, some PIP awards stopping and uncertainty about whether others would be extended, a number of severely disabled and terminally ill people not receiving additional amounts they were entitled to and a gap in support for some carers.
This report concentrates on the impact of COVID 19 on families living in Scotland and highlights that many families are struggling financially due to inadequate support from the social security system and/or being unable to work while schools and childcare providers are closed.
