In mid-February the INOU made a submission to the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands on the issue of means testing for social welfare payments, which focused on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
Streamlining the means test
The National Economic and Social Council’s report The Future of the Irish Social Welfare System: Participation and Protection discussed the issue of a single portable means test, noting that “Currently, when a person becomes unemployed, they might apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit/Allowance and Rent Supplement, and have to provide documentation on means (i.e. incomes, savings or assets) for both applications. This duplicates work for both the applicant and the public sector. To help reduce such duplication, during the early 2000s, work was carried out on a ‘central means system’, under which applicants for state benefits could allow one state body to view financial data collected by another, for the purposes of applying for these benefits. Such options currently exist in the application process for Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) and the National Childcare Scheme, and could act as a model for further work in this area, bearing in mind GDPR requirements.” (p117) Such a proposal could alleviate some of the stress on people when they become unemployed, help to streamline social protection supports and services and should be given serious consideration.
Individualisation
In February 2021 the INOU ran a number of online events on the theme of Developing a Social Welfare System for the Future . Amongst the issues raised were the journey from JB to the means tested payment Jobseeker’s Allowance does not work out for everyone: if the person is under 25 and living at home their parents’ income is taken into account; if older and they have a partner the partner’s income is taken into account and / or they have means themselves; these rules have particular implications for young people and women and can lead to their exclusion from income supports and employment services.
Increasing individualisation within our social protection system could help to address some of these issues. It was interesting to see the effect of the rules that applied for claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, where in effect each claimant was treated as an adult in their own right regardless of their wider personal or family circumstances, as it was their relationship with the employment / labour market that mattered. However, for people, more than likely women, who are Qualified Adults on their partners payment, it would be very important that Genuinely Seeking Work criteria do not apply. An approach similar to that introduced for people moving from a One Parent Family Payment to a Jobseeker’s Transient Payment should be used. NESC noted in their report that this was “ first proposed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs in 2005” . (p xxx)
Capital Disregards
As noted in the previous section, many people do not make the transition from Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) to Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) for a variety of reasons, including failing the means-test associated with JA. If an unemployed person can no longer access income supports they can find themselves unable to fully access employment service supports or education, training and employment programmes.
The capital disregard for a Jobseeker’s Allowance payment has remained at €20,000 for more than eighteen years. Using December 2016 as the base, in January 2005 the Consumer Price Index stood at 87.3, while in January 2024 it stood at 119.6, an increase of 37%. If a person is saving to buy a house, a deposit of only €20,000 will not get them very far. Table 1 below outlines the current position and the proposed changes the INOU are recommending.
| TABLE 1 JOBSEEKER’S ALLOWANCE CAPITAL MEANS TEST | |||
| Current Capital | Weekly Means Assessed | Proposed Capital | Proposed Weekly Means Assessed |
| First €20,000 | Disregarded | First €35,000 | Disregarded |
| Next €10,000 | €1.00 per €1,000 | Next €17,500 | €1.00 per €1,000 |
| Next €10,000 | €2.00 per €1,000 | Next €17,500 | €2.00 per €1,000 |
| Balance | €4.00 per €1,000 | Balance | €4.00 per €1,000 |
The situation is even more stark for someone on a Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA), as the capital disregard for SWA is only €5,000. Given the challenging circumstances people who require SWA can find themselves in, the INOU believes that where a person is transferring / moving from one means tested allowance payment to another, and by some necessity is required to apply for an SWA payment, that the lowest rate non-SWA capital disregard be applied (currently €20,000).
Working Part-Time
At INOU events, through INOU services people have raised issues about underemployment and the social welfare system; uncertainty of hours or days of employment from one week to the next and the impact on people’s ability to survive; the challenges facing people on a Jobseeker’s Allowance payment if the part-time work they find is spread out over more than three days; the loss of € for € for anyone on Supplementary Welfare Allowance who finds employment.
In the Department of Social Protection’s Pay Related Benefit consultation held earlier in 2023, a proposed Working Age Payment was outlined which could help to address some of the challenges facing people who are underemployed. It could also recognise the employment and job-seeking challenges faced by unemployed people for whom part-time work may be the only practical option – because of local / regional economic circumstances, ongoing technologies impact on employment opportunities, and / or available and accessible employment options. It will be interesting to see how this proposal develops in 2024, but it will be particularly important that point made in the consultation document is realised: “This would be to guarantee a basic income floor and ensure that in all cases a person’s income increases when they work.” (p30)
Click here for the full submission