A study commissioned by Gateshead Council has found that the stress of coping with universal credit has led some claimants to consider suicide. The research, conducted by academics from Teesside and Newcastle universities, revealed high levels of anxiety, depression, and physical problems among vulnerable claimants, exacerbated by hunger and destitution.
The report concludes that universal credit is actively creating poverty and is not fit for purpose for many people with disabilities, mental illness, or chronic health conditions. It calls for a radical overhaul of the system before the next phase of its rollout next year. Alice Wiseman, director of public health at Gateshead Council, described universal credit as a threat to public health in the context of wider austerity.
The qualitative study, based on interviews with 33 claimants and 37 welfare advice staff, found that six claimants reported that universal credit had made them so depressed they considered taking their own lives. Lead researcher Mandy Cheetham said the interviews were so distressing she undertook a suicide prevention course midway through the study.
One respondent said: 'When you feel like “I can’t feed myself, I can’t pay my electric bill, I can’t pay my rent,” well, all you can feel is the world collapsing around you. It does a lot of damage, physically and mentally … there were points where I did think about ending my life.' An armed forces veteran said universal credit triggered insomnia and depression, calling it 'the straw that broke the camel’s back.'
Compared to the legacy benefit system, participants found universal credit more remote, inflexible, demeaning, and intrusive. The report comes as the UN’s poverty investigator Philip Alston prepares to publish a report on the impact of austerity in the UK. The government has insisted universal credit is 'here to stay' after injecting £2.7bn into the system in October's budget, but the study is likely to fuel calls for the rollout to be paused.
