Debt, hunger, and stress emerge as key themes from the first phase of an ongoing study of the social impact of welfare reform
We suspected it would be
bad, and so it looks. One of the first studies of the human impact of welfare reform on
families and individuals tells us that it is making the poorest people poorer
and more miserable.
The Real Life Reform
study is tracking the detailed welfare reform experiences of 74 volunteer
households living in social housing across the north
of England. Its first report is based on interviews conducted with tenants in
July, three months after many of the major social security changes came in, such
as the bedroom tax.
Households are struggling to get by financially: over a quarter report they have less than £10 a week to live on, once rent, food and bills (including debt repayments) are accounted for; 37% say they have no spare cash at all. There is no safety net. If food and energy prices rise then they face, as the report delicately puts it, "some very tough decisions."
In fact, they have already been making tough decisions. Food spend is often the first casualty of poverty: families were spending an average of just £23 per person a week (or £3.30 a day) on food; for those with school age children £1.80 of this daily allowance was going towards a school dinner. Little room for spending less on food, then; but is precisely what many respondents were planning to do. Groceries perceived to be expensive, like meat or fresh vegetables would go; more said they would have to rely on charity handouts from the food bank. One participant said:
I already can't afford to feed myself properly so it will just be worse. I get upset, angry, depressed.
Households were spending an
average £26 a week on gas and electricity. This equated to 10% of gross income
(the definition of fuel poverty). This, however, was July, when the heating was
off: the concern is households will be unable to cope in the winter months,
especially if energy
prices rise. The choice, for some, will be eating or heating.
This report (which serves as a benchmark, and will be updated regularly as the reforms take root) concludes:
What is clear is that many households are already incredibly stretched in terms of managing now and as changes begin to hit home, those just about coping may struggle.
Two-thirds of families were
determined to "stay and pay". But many of these are reliant on local authority
discretionary housing payments (DHPs) to make up the cut in income. How those
affected by the bedroom tax will cope when DHPs run out will be a severe test.
The report suggests that many tenants' optimism may be misplaced and they will
have to "revisit their intentions" as time goes on. As the National Housing
Federation confirmed last week, more
tenants are falling into arrears , and this is true also among the Real Life
Reform areas:
In terms of aspirations to "stay and pay" it is apparent from findings from landlord assessments that arrears are increasing and therefore participants intentions to pay are not matched by their ability to pay
But arrears in themselves fail to catch the full human cost of welfare reform. The report notes that the words "stress," "worry" and "depression" all came up regularly in interviews. Some tenants were increasing their medication, others reported trouble sleeping. These feelings were compounded in some cases by being unable to afford to eat properly. Asked whether they ever felt optimistic about the future, four out of ten tenants said "none of the time". A worrying number, says the report, made reference to suicidal feelings.
Respondents also reported a sense of communal gloom. There were fears that crime would go up, that families would split up, that local shops would close, and that community spirit would erode. These are perceptions, and may turn out to be unduly pessimistic. But it is plain that tenants do not share ministers' optimism that welfare reform will be good for them.
As one respondent noted:
My neighbourhood is a Tsunami of fear
Guardian
