Field: Universal Credit or Equivalent received by the Family
Description
Universal Credit or Equivalent received by the family, as reported by FRS respondents, where:
Classification
Applicable to: All Individuals in a family
Number of categories: 3
Quality Statement
Universal Credit or Equivalent covers families in receipt of Universal Credit (UC) or any of the Legacy benefits it is replacing i.e. working-age Jobseeker's Allowance (income-related), Employment and Support Allowance (income-related), Income Support, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Housing Benefit. This category is included to provide a consistent series of working-age families on income-related benefits over time whilst UC is being rolled out. The migration of legacy benefit cases to UC has been taking place over several years: as a result, the composition of the UC caseload at the current time will not necessarily be the same as when that migration is complete, and the information in these tables should be seen in this context.
Relative to administrative records, the FRS is known to under-report benefit receipt. However, the FRS is considered to be the best source for looking at benefit and tax credit receipt by characteristics not captured on administrative sources, and for looking at total benefit receipt on a family (benefit unit) or household basis. It is often inappropriate to look at benefit receipt on an individual basis because means-tested benefits are paid on behalf of the family (benefit unit).
Further information can be found in the Glossary of the FRS Background Note and Methodology here and in the HBAI Quality and Methodology Report here.