The psychological wellbeing of children in the families affected by the welfare reform Universal Credit

Despite indicators from staff, and recipients of Universal Credit of a likely detrimental impact of the move to Universal Credit, there is not only a paucity of academic literature which examines the impact of Universal Credit, but also of the impact it might have on children’s psychological distress. Following a systematic review of the existing literature regarding the impact of Universal Credit on individuals in the UK, this research aimed to answer two hypotheses. These were “Children in families that are on Universal Credit will have worse psychological wellbeing outcomes (measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997)) than children that are in families on legacy benefits as a result of moving onto Universal Credit” and “Children in families on Universal Credit will have worse psychological wellbeing outcomes than children in families on legacy benefits”. . Secondary data was extracted and analysed from the UK Longitudinal Household Survey. Regression analyses were used to explore these hypotheses. Results indicated that both hypotheses should be rejected. Possible explanations for these findings are explored, although as this was preliminary examination of a piloted programme further research in the area is recommended.