Dispatches: Season 2018, Episode 12

2018 - 12: Britain's Benefits Crisis

Universal Credit is the government's big idea for the seven million people who receive benefits. But the new welfare changes have been mired in controversy, with claims that they are forcing people to use food banks and making some people homeless. Hansard reported last November that the government had announced what they called a balanced package of improvements to put more money into claimants' hands earlier. Reporter Morland Sanders speaks to people who rely on the benefit to see what difference the changes are making to their lives. And an exclusive poll of the staff employed to administer the new system reveals widespread discontent at the Department of Work and Pensions.