Following our #SupportNotPunish parliamentary drop-in, where we showcased voice notes from single parents about their experiences with Universal Credit (UC), we’ve been working behind the scenes to push for UC reform.

Roundtable with the Minister

In November, we were pleased to host a roundtable with the Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms, who is currently carrying out a review of UC, alongside single parents with lived experience of the system.

At the session, single parents outlined the persistent challenges they face with UC, including its insufficiency, rigidity, poor communication, and a lack of tailored support, particularly around conditionality, childcare, and self-employment. They called for a more flexible, compassionate, and responsive system, with empathy and understanding built into staff training and communication. These reflections echo the findings and key asks of our They’re Sanctioning the Children report and #SupportNotPunish campaign.

The Minister’s response

Following the roundtable, we shared a follow-up briefing with the Minister, reinforcing the key messages single parents shared and our calls for urgent reform. In his response, the Minister re-iterated the focus areas of the UC review: tackling poverty and helping people manage their money, making work pay and improving work incentives, and maximising UC’s potential and its impact on customers.

He also highlighted positive several changes underway, including an increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance, the removal of the two-child limit, and the launch of the Get Britain Working Coaching Academy – aimed at professionalising the support provided to claimants. He also noted the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) commitment to becoming a more trauma-informed organisation, with co-production being a key element of this approach.

In his response, the Minister confirmed that conditionality and sanctions remain outside the scope of the UC review. This is particularly disappointing, given the ongoing anxiety and hardship these measures cause for single-parent families. However, our efforts do not stop here. We are continuing to raise this issue with the government, including in a meeting with the Minister for Employment, Dame Diana Johnson, last month.

It is also disappointing that the government has not committed to scrapping the benefit cap. In his response, the Minister states that “leaving the overall benefit cap in place encourages personal responsibility while maintaining incentives to work”.  However, most single parents are already in work or want to work. Yet they often face practical barriers that make it difficult to gain and sustain high-quality employment, including limited access to flexible or part-time jobs and affordable childcare. This particularly affects those with young children.

Single-parent families are therefore disproportionately affected by the benefit cap: almost 70% of capped households are single-parent families, and over 60% of these have a youngest child under five. With 43% of children in single-parent families living in poverty, maintaining the benefit cap without addressing these barriers risks deepening poverty rather than promoting work.

Read the Minister’s response here.

Continuing the conversation

Earlier this week, we met with Sir Stephen Timms again to continue the conversation around UC reform. We were encouraged to hear that some of the issues raised at the roundtable, such as support for self-employment, are being considered as part of the review, and that the DWP is exploring improvements to its childcare offer. During the meeting, we highlighted the need for specialist single-parent work coaches in Jobcentres, and it was positive to hear the Minister agree to take this recommendation away for further consideration.

Next steps

We will continue to engage with the government as the UC review progresses, creating opportunities wherever possible for single parents to directly share their experiences and the changes they want to see. Alongside this, we will keep pushing for wider social security reform.

In April 2026, several previously announced changes to UC will come into effect, including an uprating of the standard allowance and the removal of the two-child limit (both key asks of our #SupportNotPunish campaign). Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates on when these changes happen and what they mean for single-parent families.

We will also be holding another #SupportNotPunish week of action later this year. To stay up to date with our work and hear about opportunities to get involved, please subscribe to our campaigns mailing list.