Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 22 March 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what change he expects in the number of people working (a) one to five, (b) six to nine, (c) 10 to 19, (d) 20 to 29 and (e) 30 or more hours per week following introduction of the universal credit.
The information requested is not available. We are currently considering whether there is a way of robustly estimating these effects.
Universal credit will improve incentives to work by a combination of earnings disregards and a single withdrawal rate to reduce the credit when earnings exceed the disregard. This will make the benefits of work clearer and simpler: encouraging people to move into work and see the financial benefits of increasing the number of hours they work or provide a clear incentive for people to try out a 'mini-job'. By actively putting work at the centre of working-age support we want to create a new contract with the British people. We will help them to find work and make sure work pays when they do.
The number of hours work a person does will not be part of the qualifying conditions for universal credit.
Overall we expect the number of workless households to fall as a result of improved incentives to work under universal credit.
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