The reform of housing benefit, which comes into force on 1 January 2021, involves basing these schemes on beneficiaries’ income received over the last twelve months, rather than on their income from the year before last. This measure forms part of a broader context highlighting the need to modernise our redistributive system in order to reduce such time lags between the moment of redistribution and the reference period for calculating income, and thus move closer to real-time redistribution. The recent reform of the pay-as-you-earn income tax system is another example of this trend. Alongside this reform of housing benefits, the issue of merging social security benefits features prominently in public debate (e.g. the proposed Universal Activity Income, debates surrounding basic income). Such a merger also raises questions about the method of measuring resources to be adopted within the framework of a unified benefit.
Reform of housing benefit and the means-tested thresholds for social security benefits
Project Status
Completed
