A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Universal Credit: Welfare reform and mental health
Authors: Brewer, Mike; Dang, Thang; Tominey, Emma
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Journal of Health Economics
Journal name in source: Journal of Health Economics
Article number: 102940
Volume: 98
ISSN: 0167-6296
eISSN: 1879-1646
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102940
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102940
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/470832049
The UK Universal Credit (UC) welfare reform simplified the benefits system whilst strongly incentivising a return to sustainable employment. Exploiting a staggered roll-out, we estimate the differential effect of unemployment under UC versus the former system on mental health. Groups with fewer insurance possibilities – single adults and lone parents – experience a mental health deterioration of 8.4-13.9% standard deviations which persists into the subsequent year. For couples, UC partially or fully mitigates mental health consequences of unemployment. Exploring mechanisms, for single adults and lone parents, reduced benefit income and strict job search requirements dominate any positive welfare effects of the reduced administrative burden of claiming benefits.
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Funding information in the publication:
This research is funded by University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Thang Dang).
