Received from: Equity
Congress welcomes the Not Here to Help report by Equity and the University of Warwick, which analyses creative and cultural workers’ experiences of social security and recommends reforms to universal credit (UC).
Congress notes that the application of the UC minimum income floor (MIF) is causing extreme hardship among self-employed and atypical workers in many industries, including the creative and cultural sectors. As the report from Equity and the University of Warwick evidences:
Four out of five members report that UC has not helped them to work in the industry, this compares to three-quarters who said that previous social security systems had helped them.
i. 41 per cent of those subject to the MIF have gone without essential items such as food or utilities
ii. 46 per cent of those subject to the MIF have been unable to pay household bills
iii. 5 per cent were forced to leave their home as a result of the MIF. One told us that they were now living out of their car following the MIF being applied.
Congress agrees that a concerted attacks on our social security system by this government and some media organisations has hurt all working people. We all have to rely on the safety net during times of need.
Congress recognises the insufficiency of current provision. It endorses and will campaign to achieve the recommendations of Equity’s research including:
a. the abolition of the MIF
b. the need for a review of how our social security system treats atypical workers.
Equity