Title	Date	Start Time	Duration	Register
How the housing crisis has deepened the cost of living crisis For most people housing is the highest living cost, yet the ongoing housing crisis in the UK is often overlooked when discussing the current cost of living crisis. This webinar will explore the policy issues affecting housing affordability for low-income households, examining the scale of the problem as well as what can be done in both the short and long term. We will highlight important work done by our clients using data to proactively address housing issues. We will be joined by a leading local authority to discuss a recent project conducted with Policy in Practice that used benefits administration data to identify households in temporary accommodation that could be helped to move into the private rental sector. Join this webinar to learn: - How UK housing policy interacts with the cost of living crisis - How local authorities are using data to proactively tackle housing affordability problems - Actions you can take now to support your residents dealing with housing issues alongside the cost of living crisis	27/7/2022j/n/Y	10:30 BST2022-07-27T09:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register
How to identify and support Just About Managing households using data The government has said it wants to make life easier for the 'squeezed middle' or people who are just about managing. These are the families who are not rich and they are also not those on the lowest incomes. Despite most being in work, they are struggling to meet their cost of living and it is no wonder. The cost of living hit a 30-year high in February with inflation running at 6.2% and outpacing wage growth. Electricity bills were up nearly 20% in the year to January 2022, and gas bills by 28%, with further rises expected. Private rental prices across the UK went up by 2% in the year to January, the highest rate for five years; in the East Midlands that figure was 3.6%. We know that one in five UK adults (10.3 million people) have less than £100 in savings, one in ten have no savings at all and more than a quarter have less than £500. Many are one broken appliance away from slipping into debt. Local authorities want to help families who are struggling now to avoid a crisis down the line yet they have little or no visibility over people who are not already claiming benefits. Now though, analysis of other datasets can be used to get a clearer picture of families who are just about managing. Join this webinar to learn: - Who is just about managing now but at risk in the future due to the rising cost of living - Which datasets can be used to identify families in danger of debt - How local authorities can target support to avert crisis	21/9/2022j/n/Y	10:30 BST2022-09-21T09:30:00ZH:i T	1.3 hours	Register

Title

Date

Start Time

Duration

How the housing crisis has deepened the cost of living crisis For most people housing is the highest living cost, yet the ongoing housing crisis in the UK is often overlooked when discussing the current cost of living crisis.

This webinar will explore the policy issues affecting housing affordability for low-income households, examining the scale of the problem as well as what can be done in both the short and long term.

We will highlight important work done by our clients using data to proactively address housing issues.

We will be joined by a leading local authority to discuss a recent project conducted with Policy in Practice that used benefits administration data to identify households in temporary accommodation that could be helped to move into the private rental sector.

Join this webinar to learn:

- How UK housing policy interacts with the cost of living crisis
- How local authorities are using data to proactively tackle housing affordability problems
- Actions you can take now to support your residents dealing with housing issues alongside the cost of living crisis

27/7/2022

10:30 BST

1.3 hours

How to identify and support Just About Managing households using data The government has said it wants to make life easier for the 'squeezed middle' or people who are just about managing. These are the families who are not rich and they are also not those on the lowest incomes. Despite most being in work, they are struggling to meet their cost of living and it is no wonder.

The cost of living hit a 30-year high in February with inflation running at 6.2% and outpacing wage growth. Electricity bills were up nearly 20% in the year to January 2022, and gas bills by 28%, with further rises expected. Private rental prices across the UK went up by 2% in the year to January, the highest rate for five years; in the East Midlands that figure was 3.6%.

We know that one in five UK adults (10.3 million people) have less than £100 in savings, one in ten have no savings at all and more than a quarter have less than £500. Many are one broken appliance away from slipping into debt.

Local authorities want to help families who are struggling now to avoid a crisis down the line yet they have little or no visibility over people who are not already claiming benefits. Now though, analysis of other datasets can be used to get a clearer picture of families who are just about managing.

Join this webinar to learn:

- Who is just about managing now but at risk in the future due to the rising cost of living
- Which datasets can be used to identify families in danger of debt
- How local authorities can target support to avert crisis

21/9/2022

10:30 BST

1.3 hours

Browse our analysis of financing welfare policy

Evidence Blog posts

New COVID-19 analysis finds low sick pay may undermine Test and Trace

New research by Policy in Practice shows that low sick pay may undermine Test and Trace as people on low incomes could lose £100’s of pounds if they are asked to self isolate. Some households who are asked to self isolate will struggle to bear the immediate financial costs of relying on Statutory Sick Pay. If their loss of earnings is too great, they may feel they need to return to work, and thereby risk spreading COVID-19.

June 2020

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Evidence into how well DWP has responded to the Coronavirus pandemic

Policy in Practice responded to a survey by the Work and Pensions Committee about how DWP responded to the Coronavirus pandemic. In our submission we shared highlights from our work supporting thousands of claimants from late March to early April 2020. In addition to our evidence, we make three main recommendations to make the benefit system more supportive to claimants, and better able to support the country through this pandemic. We call for the savings limit in Universal Credit to be suspended for the next twelve months, the two-child benefit limit and the benefit cap to be suspended (or at least increased to £2,500 per month) for the duration of the pandemic and the increased generosity of the welfare system to be maintained after April 2021.

April 2020

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The impact of COVID-19 welfare support measures on household income report

Policy in Practice has analysed the impact of the new measures announced by the government to show how they will help households hit by Coronavirus (COVID-19). As a result of the changes to Universal Credit, the number of households in receipt of Universal Credit whose bills are higher than their monthly income will fall from 16% of households to 10%. The average increase in Universal Credit awards as a result of changes coming into effect from April 2020 will be £98/month, an increase of 7.3%.

The impacts of the three main changes announced up to Friday 20 March 2020 are examined.

March 2020

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Autumn Budget 2018 analysis

Policy in Practice analysed the impact of the budget changes. Our analysis found that almost 250,000 low-income households would move from being worse off under Universal Credit, compared to legacy benefits, to being better off as a result. We also found that Universal Credit does not appear to have a statistically significant impact on employment rates. That said, there is more evidence that any significant impact is more likely to be positive rather than negative.

November 2018

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Impacts of the Benefit Cap

Giovanni Tonnutti of Policy in Practice presented to the Work and Pensions Committee on the impacts of the Benefit Cap. We also released a press statement that half of households are failing to escape the Benefit Cap. Our Low-Income Londoners study found that for every claimant who managed to move off the cap, there is more than one household who is stuck under the cap for six months or longer. Read our news release here.

October 2018

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Autumn Budget 2017: Briefing option papers on Universal Credit

The briefing papers were created with feedback from practioners and analysis by Policy in Practice. The options in the papers were discussed with DWP and offer a range of suggestions that would ease the transition for the seven million households who will be receiving Universal Credit in the coming years.

November 2017

Options to reduce the 6 week wait

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Further options to improve Universal Credit

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Over a million more people will be in poverty in April as we’re worse off than a decade ago

March 23, 2022

Deven Ghelani

Over a million more people will be in poverty this April says new analysis from Policy in Practice ahead of the Spring Statement 2022.

2022: The challenges ahead for low-income families

January 13, 2022

Deven Ghelani

2022 is set to be a year with many challenges, especially for low-income households. We explore three of these and suggest actions that can make a difference.