Context

The low-take up of income-related benefits and tax credits is a long-standing concern, with almost a third of eligible people failing to claim them in 2009-10. Take-up rates for most types declined in the decade to 2009-10. Improving the take-up of eligible benefits is expected to improve poverty reduction and other outcomes, such as health and employment, and should be the objective of a wide consensus.

The study

The review was commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the assumption that improved take-up of means-tested benefits and tax credits is an important route towards poverty reduction. The main focus is on the safety-net minimum income supports available for working age and retired people and those on tax credits as these are characterised by lower take-up rates and relate to the poorest individuals and households in greatest need. Specific take-up issues related to specialist and complex benefits were excluded.

International English-language literature was sourced from searches of databases and organisational websites. The review did not exclude ‘grey literature’ such as government reports and prioritised literature from 2005, selecting 40 publications, in addition to prior reviews of earlier research and supplementary references indicated by US and Australian experts.

No aims are given, however the review covers findings on:

• the extent of and reasons for non-take-up of income-related benefits;
• the impact of previous interventions on take-up; and
• how future policy might facilitate higher rates of take-up and its role in anti-poverty strategies.

Key findings

• Take up of means-tested benefits is low and a common problem in the UK and in other countries across the world, where studies exist, and there is a case internationally for further encouraging take up. Take-up is highest where potential payments are high.
• In the UK, take-up may have reduced because benefits were extended to include more beneficiaries eligible for smaller entitlements. Nonetheless, a significant number of non –claiming households with higher entitlements exist. Improving the take up of income-related benefits and tax credits in the UK would facilitate poverty reduction and other outcomes such as health, employment and wider wellbeing.
• A complex interaction of individual circumstances, public policy, eligibility criteria and application processes, stigma and only small financial gains are indicated as key factors for explaining low take-up in the UK and international literature.
• Research primarily from the UK identifies a set of consistent explanatory factors associated with non-take-up which include the value and duration of benefits, poor awareness and perceived ineligibility, complexities in researching and understanding eligibility rules (exacerbated by difficult official language and administrative and technological inefficiencies), complex and lengthy application procedures, low perceived financial values, and social psychological factors such as pride, stigma and attitudes.
• Initiatives which have changed the design (e.g. simplification) and delivery mechanisms of benefits and targeted take-up campaigns (e.g. advertising) and services have demonstrated improvements in take-up, which generated financial gains and employment opportunities for poor households. Increased incomes in turn contributed to improvements in wider health and wellbeing and family stability.
• There are some limitations, however, in the efficacy and cost effectiveness of some national UK-Government campaigns (e.g. in relation to multi-approach Pension Credit campaigns). Local initiatives generally appear to be the most effective.
• There are multiple ways that services and campaigns can address non-take-up and these include:
• Reducing complexity in the application process.
• Promoting take-up when individuals or households have contact with other key public services.
• Improving publicity which raises awareness of benefits in hard-to-reach groups, including in public places (e.g. shopping centres and local healthcare settings) and through community outreach activities.
• A role for peer group advisers, trusted intermediaries (e.g. health workers) and better training for advice providers in a range of community and local settings.

Points to consider

• The findings of this report remain highly relevant in a time of austerity and financial hardship among large numbers of UK households, as well as welfare reform. The authors note that in-train reforms to the UK welfare benefit and tax credit system (such as the Single Tier Pension) are likely to have some positive impacts on take-up, but that it is important for any assumptions on the effects of reform (such as Universal Credit) to be monitored in times to come. Improving take-up should remain an integral part of anti-poverty strategies.
• While the review takes the form of a narrative review and is not described as a systematic review, there is some evidence that the results described are based on a reasonably extensive and well-considered review, using a semi-systematised search process, which lends validity to the findings.

Full report

Take up of benefits and poverty - full report