What does the pledge mean?

Universal Credit (UC) is the UK’s main benefit system for working age adults who are on a low income and need help with living costs, including those who are in work, unemployed, or unable to work due to a health condition.

Since its initial introduction in 2013, it has consolidated six previous ‘legacy benefits’, including Working Tax Credits and Housing Benefit, although the complete shift from these to UC is not expected to be completed until 2028/29 at the earliest.

The standard rate of UC varies depending on the claimant’s age and relationship status, but for a single person over 25 it is typically £424.90 a month. Some claimants are entitled to additional payments if they have a health condition or disability limiting their ability to work—this is called the ‘health element’, and is assessed through a work capability assessment (WCA), with those entitled to extra payments assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA).

Additional payments are also available for carers or those who have children living with them.

Universal Credit is linked to earnings, meaning the specific amount a claimant is entitled to varies as they move in and out of work. A ‘work allowance’ enables claimants to earn a certain amount before UC payments are reduced.

Labour’s manifesto promised to review Universal Credit “so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty”, but did not specify what changes would be made, or what metrics would be used to assess any changes.

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokesperson told us in August 2025 that this referred to a review focussing on “the policy design and structure of Universal Credit”, but did not say if or when this review would be published.

What progress has been made?

We are currently rating this pledge as “in progress”, as the government told us in August 2025 it was reviewing Universal Credit, but it remains unclear what form this review is taking, when it will be concluded and if it will be published.

Government ministers said in 2025 that there were no terms of reference for the review. In June 2026, the DWP published the results of a survey of UC customers, which it said would serve as “contributing evidence to the department’s ongoing review of UC, which is examining how UC is working for customers.”

A DWP spokesperson told Full Fact in August 2025: “We are reviewing Universal Credit to ensure it aligns with our objectives of reducing poverty and making work pay. This review is not duplicating existing work such as changes announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper but instead focuses on the policy design and structure of Universal Credit.”

The department did not provide any further detail on when this review would be completed when we asked in September 2026, but said that its work was being used to inform ongoing policy development.

Separately, in September 2025, the government passed the Universal Credit Act to make a series of changes to UC payments, among other welfare reforms.

Measures which took effect from April 2026 include:

• increasing the standard allowance of UC all claimants receive above inflation over four financial years from 2026/27.
• reducing the UC health element for most new claimants from April 2026 by approximately half, from £432.27 a month to £217.26, then freezing this payment for each year until 2029/30
• freezing the level of the UC health element for existing claimants each year until 2029/30.

The original bill was heavily amended following opposition from Labour backbenchers.

While the government has made these changes, it remains disputed whether they will achieve the aims of “making work pay” and reducing poverty.

In its impact assessment for the bill, the government estimated its welfare changes would result in 50,000 fewer individuals in relative poverty after housing costs, while adding that increased employment support pledged under the bill would also “reduce poverty among people it supports into work”.

But organisations including Scope, a disabilities charity, have said the changes for most new UC health claimants are “disastrous” and could “push more people into poverty”, as these will see a reduction in health-related benefits compared to pre-existing claimants.

A separate review of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP)—the main disability benefit—is also currently ongoing.