Sanctions and work tests. In my 11-year experience of reporting on the UK’s welfare system, these are the two aspects that cause people the most misery. The sanctions regime is a blunt tool that docks your benefits if you infringe sometimes nonsensical rules. Often dehumanising and frustrating work capability assessments declare you either fit or unfit to work.
These both came in for a Budget-ing today, when the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced some of the most significant social security reforms in a decade.
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