Benefits conditionality in the UK: understanding its nature, extent, and perceived reasonableness

Programme-level (quantitative) data suggests that a considerable number of claimants are subject to formal work-related behavioural requirements in the UK. Likewise, academic (qualitative) research has suggested that conditionality is pervasive within the benefits system. However, evidence on the nature, extent and suitability of the conditionality applied is often piecemeal, with existing research providing partial insights into the experience and operation of conditionality. Drawing on a purpose-collected survey of UK benefit claimants (n=3,801), we provide new systematic evidence to address two key questions: (1) to what extent do benefit claimants experience work-related conditionality? and (2) are behavioural requirements experienced as reasonable by claimants? Overall, we found that the application of conditionality was evident for a relatively small proportion of survey participants. To make sense of this, we introduce a distinction between explicit and implicit forms of conditionality, which comes some way to explain ostensible contradictions within the existing evidence base on benefit conditionality: i.e., there is a background sense of insecurity/contingency even when explicit modes of conditionality are not applied. Of those subject to explicit conditionality, we also show a complex pattern of disclosure of health/care-related work barriers, that a substantial minority of claimants with barriers believe that work coaches do not fully take these into account, and a substantial minority experience conditionality as unreasonable.