![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/BK201704.jpg)
1. Universal Credit
[ch 1: pages 12-13]What’s new?
• From 6 April 2017 support for children under Universal Credit (UC) is limited to two children for new claims and new births. For those already claiming UC, there will be no increase for subsequent children born on or after 6 April 2017. New claims for UC from families that already have more than two children will be redirected to Tax Credits until November 2018
• If your eldest child is born on or after 6 April 2017 you are no longer eligible for the (higher) ‘first child premium’ in UC. Instead, the child element for the first child will be the same rate as for the second child
• The introduction of UC is well behind schedule and is not now expected to be fully in place until 2022
• The “taper rate” for UC (see page 20) has been cut from 65% to 63% meaning that for any income earned above the “work allowances” (see page 19), claimants can keep 37p rather than 35p in the £1
• The new employment support programme for young people, the Youth Obligation, will be rolled out in existing UC "full service areas" from April 2017. Eighteen to 21-year-olds who have been claiming UC for six months will have to apply for either training or apprenticeships or attend a work placement, unless they are exempt because they are considered to be vulnerable
• From April 2017, entitlement to support for housing costs is withdrawn from some 18-21 year olds
• The Limited Capability for Work element of Employment and Support Allowance s abolished for new claimants from April 2017
The single benefit Universal Credit (UC) is gradually replacing the previous system of working-age benefits and tax credits. The main differences between UC and the welfare system in place before are as follows:
• UC is available to people who are in work and on a low income, as well as to those who are out of work;
• most people apply online and manage their claim through an online account;
• as people on low incomes move in and out of work, they should still receive UC;
• most claimants on low incomes are still paid UC when they first start a new job or increase their part-time hours. There is no limit on the number of hours you can work a week if you get UC, but your payment will gradually reduce as you earn more;
• claimants receive a payment once a month (in arrears), paid into a bank account in the same way as a monthly salary is paid; and
• support with housing costs goes direct to the claimant as part of their monthly payment, rather than to a landlord.
UC is gradually replacing:
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA);
• Housing Benefit (HB);
• Working Tax Credit (WTC);
• Child Tax Credit (CTC);
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA); and
• Income Support (IS).
Eventually, everyone on these benefits will have to move to the new system, and UC requires claimants to accept a Claimant Commitment, with sanctions imposed if they do not stick to the conditions this sets out (see pages 20).