Read on Twitter
1/ Today, @hrw published an investigation into how the automation of #UniversalCredit, the UK's benefits system, is driving people into hunger, debt and poverty. 
: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/29/uk-automated-benefits-system-failing-people-need
: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/29/uk-automated-benefits-system-failing-people-need
2/ #UniversalCredit is supposed to simplify the benefits system - combine six social security benefits into a monthly lump sum paid and calculated monthly.
But what the government has created is devilishly complex. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/29/automated-hardship/how-tech-driven-overhaul-uks-social-security-system-worsens
But what the government has created is devilishly complex. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/29/automated-hardship/how-tech-driven-overhaul-uks-social-security-system-worsens
3/ The means-testing algorithm at the heart of #UniversalCredit is flawed. It's supposed to adjust people's benefit as their earnings change. But it frequently misinterprets people's earnings.
4/ That's because the data fed to the algorithm only shows the wages people receive in any given month, not how frequently they are paid. That's fine if you receive one paycheck and that's your salary for the month.
5/ But what if you receive several paychecks for multiple periods of work? The algorithm just assumes all of it is your monthly earnings.
6/ This can wreak havoc in people's lives. A single mother of two in London had her benefit plummet to ÂŁ388 in March, then rise to ÂŁ2020 in April, and fall to ÂŁ1406 in May.
Her income remained the same throughout.
Her income remained the same throughout.
7/ When calculating her benefit in March, the algorithm counted her January and February paychecks towards her monthly earnings, because both paydays happened to fall within the monthly means-testing window she was assigned.
Inflated earnings = benefit slashed.
Inflated earnings = benefit slashed.
8/ The extreme fluctuations made life incredibly hard. She struggled to make rent and feed her family in March. In May, she told me, "I'm always on eggshells. I don't know what's around the corner." https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/29/automated-hardship/how-tech-driven-overhaul-uks-social-security-system-worsens#1088
9/ The problem is more than just bad math. The algorithm reacts poorly to complex financial realities, because it uses too rigid a framework to assess people's needs.
Wages Penny received in January for temp work she did before Xmas reduced her benefit to zero - in *February*
Wages Penny received in January for temp work she did before Xmas reduced her benefit to zero - in *February*
10/ In a case brought by @CPAGUK @LeighDay_Law on behalf of four mothers, the Court of Appeal ordered the government to fix the effect of the algorithm on people with regular monthly salaries. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/24/court-corrects-flaw-uks-automated-benefits-system
11/ This is encouraging - it shows that courts are willing to hold governments accountable when their algorithms hurt people.
But it doesn't solve everything.
But it doesn't solve everything.
12/ The fear is that the government (which has accepted the ruling) will slap on a band-aid, when what's needed is a fundamental rethinking of how the benefit is calculated.
13/ The real problem is the government's wishful thinking that the benefits system should mirror a world where people hold steady, monthly-paid jobs.
Is it any wonder that the system works poorly for people who don't conform to this narrow ideal?
Is it any wonder that the system works poorly for people who don't conform to this narrow ideal?
14/ The same wishful thinking about the digital age - that people should just get on with it and learn to be internet savvy - is also causing hardship.
It ignores the socio-economic inequalities that are making it difficult for people to come online. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/29/automated-hardship/how-tech-driven-overhaul-uks-social-security-system-worsens#7508
It ignores the socio-economic inequalities that are making it difficult for people to come online. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/29/automated-hardship/how-tech-driven-overhaul-uks-social-security-system-worsens#7508
15/ I met a father of three who was repeatedly sanctioned for not submitting online evidence of his job search to the government's satisfaction.
He ended up going to the food bank to feed his family.
He ended up going to the food bank to feed his family.
16/ The government has increased funding to some charities to help people apply online for the "predominantly digital" benefit, but demand for support outstrips supply.
@ThriveTeesside told me that the burden fell on groups like them to pick up the pieces.
@ThriveTeesside told me that the burden fell on groups like them to pick up the pieces.
17/ This hardship is not inevitable. Social security experts and anti-poverty groups that have studied the benefits system for years, if not decades, have provided the government multiple technical and policy options to make #UniversalCredit fit for purpose.
18/ The government needs to listen to groups and experts like @jrf_uk @CPAGUK @CitAdvNewcastle @ThriveTeesside @NAWRA_UK @ApleCollective @EinsteinsAttic @gmorgan_ferret @richardjpope.
Above all, they need to listen to the people who are directly affected by #UniversalCredit.
Above all, they need to listen to the people who are directly affected by #UniversalCredit.
19/ Whether the government changes #UniversalCredit for the better will have important global implications.
@PhilipGAlston @cpjvanveen have found that many governments are automating their welfare systems, often in ways that harm people's rights. https://twitter.com/PhilipGAlston/status/1184846110843719682
@PhilipGAlston @cpjvanveen have found that many governments are automating their welfare systems, often in ways that harm people's rights. https://twitter.com/PhilipGAlston/status/1184846110843719682
20/ With meaningful #universalcredit reform, the government can reverse the tide of hardship and set an important precedent for protecting people's rights in the digital age. /END
