Cuts To Housing Benefit Adds To Mental Health Problems

Housing benefit cuts have led to a 10% increase in people from low-income households reporting mental health problems, says an influential report. It has also propelled an additional 26,000 people into depression, researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of Oxford and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have found.

The report, published in the esteemed American Journal of Epidemiology, looks at the mental health effects of the UK government’s April 2011 reduction in financial support to low-income households renting from the private sector. Over 179,000 private tenants were surveyed, comparing those who received of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to those who didn’t, between 2009 and 2013. LHA changes came into effect on 1 April 2011 and, by following these people over time, the researchers were able to measure the impact of the cuts on those affected.

Government changes to LHA reduced the amount people on low incomes could claim from 50% of the average rate in their local area to 30%, as well as placing a cap on how much an individual could claim per week depending on the number of bedrooms. The Institute of Fiscal Studies estimates that the average loss of income for recipients was £1,220 per year, affecting about 1.35 million individuals and potentially tipping 27,000-54,000 children into severe poverty.

Of the 1.5 million people receiving housing benefit in the private rented sector in March 2010, around a fifth were recorded as experiencing depression. After April 2011, researchers found this figure increased by 10% meaning that approximately 26,000 additional people receiving housing benefits reported symptoms after the cuts came in. And this was not a short-term shock – the increase in depressive symptoms being reported remained for up to two years after the reform.

Aaron Reeves, Associate Professorial Research Fellow in Poverty and Inequality at LSE’s International Inequality Institute and lead author of the report, said: “Housing provides shelter and security, protecting health and well-being. But when that security becomes uncertain, health, and mental health in particular, is undermined.”

“The government’s reduction in housing benefit in April 2011 created uncertainty in the lives of some low-income by making their housing less affordable. This reduction in financial support increased the risk of depressive symptoms among those claiming housing benefit over and above other people in the private rented sector.”

Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “At a time when the NHS, and the mental health service in particular, is facing unprecedented pressure, and when NHS leaders are highlighting the need to reduce preventable illness, it is incredible that other government policies are adding to that pressure”.

There are three key issues that must be considered by policy makers when considering future changes to housing support, the researchers argue. First, the findings highlight the health effects of welfare reform on economically vulnerable groups, showing that policies that increase precariousness and expose individuals to greater insecurity and potential homelessness can lead to an increase in mental health problems being experienced.

Second, these reforms counteract policy initiatives in other areas that are seeking to reduce reliance on disability benefits by reducing the generosity of incapacity benefit. In future, policymakers should attend more carefully to the spill-over effects of policy interventions that are implemented simultaneously.

Third, as part of the July 2015 budget the Conservative government outlined plans to remove eligibility for housing benefit from those aged 18-21. This policy change will increase the risk of depressive symptoms among this group even further, potentially harming their chances in the labour market and having a long term scarring effect on their mental health.

You can read the full report here ‘Reductions in housing benefit increases symptoms of depression in low-income UK households’