Social Security Springtime Shift
by Erica Young, of the CAS Social Justice team.
This article was first published in The Herald on 11 April 2026.
Universal credit (UC), the UK’s primary social security payment for working age adults, is changing. And like shifting spring skies, some of the changes will enable people to breathe a little more freely, others have the potential to be deeply damaging.
Overall, what the changes illuminate is the distance there is to travel to reach a destination where our social security system provides a proper safety net, and springboard.
From this month, everyone receiving UC will see their core entitlement, known as the Standard Allowance, increase above inflation. That will be worth around £295 this year for a single person over 25. However, the uplift will still leave single jobseekers an estimated £28 weekly short of what is needed just to meet the cost of essentials like food and energy, putting people at risk of entrapment in a cycle of falling income, debt and deteriorating health.
Many parents will be better able to build the foundations of a brighter future for their children as the pernicious two-child limit comes to an end. Yet entitlement to additional support will push some households over the benefit cap (a limit on the total amount of certain social security payments households can receive), which will erode UC incomes. Here in Scotland support is available in these circumstances, meaning that it is crucial that impacted parents seek free advice to maximise their incomes.
Amongst the most potentially consequential changes is the precipitous drop in the level of additional support that will be available to newly sick and disabled people. UC claimants who report sickness or disability will now be assessed for eligibility for additional support totalling around £50 a week, half the amount of support that will continue to be provided to claimants who undertook this assessment prior to this month. Those with the most severe and life-long conditions will be awarded a higher level of support, but at the time of writing, it is unnervingly unclear how eligible people will be identified.
This means that people in comparable circumstances will be entitled to varying levels of social security according to when they sought that support. This is a confusing situation, which again shows the need for free, expert advice.
Our network of local CABs are already picking up the pieces of the devastating impact that inadequate social security support can have on sick and disabled people. We know it drives destitution, locks in isolation and constrains human flourishing. Making life ever more difficult for people like Simon.
Simon’s home has damp and mould, which has made it more difficult for him to manage schizophrenia and a lung condition. He became isolated at home when his son, who cares for him, fell ill. When he first came to his local CAB Simon’s next social security payment was not due for two weeks and he’d already ran out of food, an indignity no one should be forced to endure.
The changes to UC are simultaneously progressive, yet regressive. They do little to protect and empower people in vulnerable circumstances encountering profound barriers to thriving. What is needed is an urgent, radical renewal of our social safety net, to help ensure that Scotland is the compassionate society we all want it to be.