Timing it right or timing it wrong: how should income-tested benefits deal with changes in circumstances?
Winner – 2019 Best Paper Prize of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) sponsored by the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice
This article examines the challenges in designing income-tested benefits for people of working age. This is particularly difficult in the context of changing patterns of work and volatility in earnings and income. Matching benefits to needs requires timely assessment and payment. We compare the treatment of timing issues in the working-age welfare systems of the United Kingdom and Australia. The article discusses how these different but similar systems deal with the timing of income receipt and benefit adjustment, problems of overpayment and debt, and draws out some lessons for the design of income-tested provisions.
-
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2018) Survey of Characteristics of Employment, Catalogue No. 63333.0, Canberra: ABS.
-
Barr, N. (1987) The Economics of the Welfare State, London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
-
Campbell, I. and Burgess, J. (2018) Patchy progress? Two decades of research on precariousness and precarious work in Australia, Labour & Industry: A Journal of the Social and Economic Relations of Work, 1(28): 48–67.
-
Carney, T. (2019 ) Robo-debt illegality: the seven veils of failed guarantees of the rule of law?, Alternative Law Journal, 44(1): 4–10, doi: 10.117/1037969X18815913.
-
Charlesworth, Z. (2018) Three significant but little known welfare changes for April 2018, http://policyinpractice.co.uk/three-significant-but-little-known-welfare-changes-live-from-april-2018.
-
Chote, R., Emmerson, C., Harrison, R. and Miles, D. (2006) The IFS Green Budget: January 2006, London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.
-
Clasen, J. (2019) Subsidizing wages or supplementing transfers? The politics and ambiguity of in‐work benefits, Social Policy & Administration, 1–13, doi: 10.1111/spol.12488.
-
Clegg, D. (2013) Europe, Labour Market Megatrends and Social Security, Geneva: International Social Security Association, pp 47–56.
-
Cowan, P. and Coyne, A. (2015) Cabinet approves $1bn centrelink systems upgrade, IT News, www.itnews.com.au/news/cabinet-approves-1bn-centrelink-systems-upgrade-402586.
-
Datta, N. (2019) Willing to pay for security: a discrete choice experiment to analyse labour supply preferences, CEP Discussion Paper No 1632, London: Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science.
-
DSS (Department of Social Services) (2019) DSS payment demographic data, March, 2019, Greenway, ACT: DSS.
-
DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) (2018) Universal Credit Full Service Survey, London: DWP.
-
DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) (2019) Universal Credit Statistics, London: DWP.
-
Eubanks, V. (2019) Zombie debts are hounding struggling Americans. Will you be next?, The Guardian [Online], www.theguardian.com/law/2019/oct/15/zombie-debt-benefits-overpayment-poverty.
-
Greve, B. (2019) The digital economy and the future of European welfare states, International Social Security Review, 72: 79–94, doi: 10.1111/issr.12214.
-
Hardy, G. and Lane, J. (2018) Walking on Thin Ice: The Cost of Financial Insecurity, Oxford: Citizens Advice.
-
Harris, N. (2014) Law in a Complex State: Complexity in the Law and Structure of Welfare, London: Hart Publishing.
-
House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (2018) HMRC’s Performance in 2017–18 Sixty-Sixth Report of Session 2017–19, London: The Stationery Office.
-
House of Commons Treasury Select Committee (2006) The Administration of Tax Credits: Sixth Report of Session 2005–06, HC 49, London: The Stationery Office.
-
House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee (2018) Universal Credit Childcare, London: The Stationery Office.
-
HMRC (2019) Child and Working Tax Credits, Finalised Awards, 2017–2018, London: HMRC.
-
Hills, J., Smithies, R. and McKnight, A. (2006) Tracking Income: How Working Families’ Incomes Vary Through the Year, London: CASEreport.
-
Henriques-Gomez, L. (2019) Centrelink drops woman’s robodebt after she mounts court challenge, www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/05/centrelink-drops-womans-robodebt-after-she-mounts-court-challenge.
-
IMF (International Monetary Fund) (2018) G-20 Background Note, The Future of Work: Measurement and Policy Challenges, Washington, DC: IMF (18 July 2018).
-
JItendra, A., Thompson, E., Rabindrakumar, S., Brownfield, G., Butler, A. and Tutton, P. (2019) Hardship Now or hardship Later: Universal Credit, Debt and the Five Week Wait, London: Trussell Trust.
-
Kennedy, S. and Keen, R. (2018) Universal Credit Roll-Out: 2018–19, House of Commons Library, Briefing Paper Number 8299, 14 June 2018.
-
Kennedy, S. and Mackley, A. (2019) The Universal Credit Assessment Period and Earned Income, House of Commons Library, Briefing Paper Number 8501.
-
Kennedy, S., Mackley, A., Wilson, W. and O’Donnell, M. (2019) Universal Credit and Debt, House of Commons Library, Debate Pack number CDP-2019-0131.
-
Lords Hansard (2006) Tax Credits Debate, London: Houses of Parliament, (23 October).
-
McKinnon, R. (2019) Introduction: social security and the digital economy – managing transformation, International Social Security Review, 72: 5–16, doi: 10.1111/issr.12211.
-
Millar, J. (2008) Making work pay, making tax credits work: an assessment with specific reference to lone-parent employment, International Social Security Review, 61(2): 21–38. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-246X.2008.00308.x
-
Millar, J. and Bennett, F. (2017) Universal credit: assumptions, contradictions and virtual reality, Social Policy and Society, 16(2): 169–82. doi: 10.1017/S1474746416000154
-
Millar, J. and Whiteford, P. (2017) Timing it wrong: benefits, income tests, overpayments and debts, Inside Story, 27 February. http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/iprblog/2017/03/01/timing-it-wrong-benefits-income-tests-overpayments-and-debts/
-
Morduch, J. and Schneider, R. (2017) The Financial Diaries, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
-
National Audit Office (2007) HM Revenue & Customs 2006–7 Accounts, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Standard Report, London: Comptroller and Auditor General.
-
National Audit Office (2018) Tackling Problem Debt, London: Comptroller and Auditor General.
-
National Audit Office (2019) Department for Work and Pensions Department Overview, London: Comptroller and Auditor General.
-
O’Donovan, D. (2019) ‘Dial 1800 – Reverse Onus’: coming to grips with robodebt, https://law.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/.
-
OECD (2016) Social Expenditure Update 2016, Paris: OECD,www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2016-Social-Expenditure-Update.pdf.
-
OECD (2019a) Policy Responses to New Forms of Work, Paris: OECD.
-
OECD (2019b) Employment Outlook 2019, Paris: OECD.
-
ONS (2018) Contracts that do not Guarantee a Minimum Number of Hours: April 2018, London: ONS.
-
Parliamentary Ombudsman (2007) Tax Credits: Getting it wrong? 5th Report Session 2006–2007, HC 1010, London: House of Commons.
-
Revenue Benefits (2019) How do tax credits work? Understanding the disregard, https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/understanding-the-disregard/#History%20of%20the%20income%20disregards.
-
Ridge, T. and Millar, J. (2011) Following families: working lone‐mother families and their children, Social Policy & Administration, 45(1): 85–97.
-
Robert, S. (2019) Transcript: ABC News, Doorstop, topics: Centrelink’s online compliance system https://www.mhs.gov.au/transcripts/2019-11-19-transcript-abc-news-doorstop
-
Romich, J. and Hill, H.D. (2017) Income instability and income support programs: recommendations for policy and practice, the consortium, www.opressrc.org/sites/default/files/public/IB_Income%20Instability_082917.pdf.
-
Rubery, J., Grimshaw, D., Keizer, A. and Johnson, M. (2018) Challenges and contradictions in the ‘normalising’ of precarious work, Work, Employment and Society, 32(3): 509–27. doi: 10.1177/0950017017751790
-
Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee, Australia, (2017) Design, scope, cost-benefit analysis, contracts awarded and implementation associated with the Better Management of the Social Welfare System initiative, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
-
Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee Australia, (2019) Budget estimates 2019–20 – 5 April 2019 answer to question on notice, Department of Human Services, Topic: Online Compliance Intervention – South Australia, Question reference number: HS 7 (SQ19-000113), Senate Hansard, Canberra.
-
Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Australia, (2019) Additional estimates 2018–19 – 21 February 2019 answer to question on notice, Department of Human Services, Topic: Online Compliance Intervention – Debt Repayments Without Review, Question reference number: HS 26 (SQ19-000039), Senate Hansard, Canberra.
-
SSAC (Social Security Advisory Committee) (2018) The Draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018, London: Stationery Office.
-
Stewart, M. and Whiteford, P. (2018) Balancing equity and efficiency in the tax and transfer system, in R. Breunig and M. Fabian (eds) Hybrid Public Policy Innovations: Contemporary Policy Beyond Ideology, Abingdon: Routledge.
-
Summers, K. and Young, D. (2019) The alleged simplicity of Universal Credit and the lived experience of benefit claimants, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/universal-credit-simplicity/.
-
Tomlinson, D. (2018) Irregular Payments: Assessing the Breadth and Depth of Month to Month Earnings Volatility, London: The Resolution Foundation.
-
Todd, V. (2018) Real time information and benefits: an update, Tax Adviser, May. https://www.taxadvisermagazine.com/article/real-time-information-and-benefits-update
-
Tucker, J. (2018) Universal Credit: What Needs to Change to Reduce Child Poverty and Make it Fit for Families?, London: CPAG.
-
Tucker, J. and Norris, D. (2018) Rough Justice. Problems with Monthly Assessment of Pay and Circumstances in Universal Credit, and What can be Done About Them, London: CPAG.
-
Victoria Legal Aid (2019) Centrelink waives another robo-debt as legal challenge continues, www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/centrelink-waives-another-robo-debt-legal-challenge-continues.
-
Whiteford, P., Mendelson, M. and Millar, J. (2003) Timing it Right? Tax Credits and how to Respond to Income Changes, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
-
World Bank (2019) World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work, Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
| May 2022 onwards | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 221 | 221 | 106 |
| Full Text Views | 410 | 410 | 2 |
| PDF Downloads | 216 | 216 | 2 |
We are a leading social science publisher
committed to making a difference.
Bristol University Press and
Policy Press
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk