The Take-up Debate on the UK Family Income Supplement

Abstract

The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is a particularly interesting aspect of UK social security provisions for families. It represents one of the few examples in the world of a social security payment designed specifically to assist low wage-earners in employment, albeit at modest levels. The introduction of FIS to help tackle the problem of family poverty represented an important departure from the philosophy behind the UK social security system as, for the first time, a cash benefit was to be paid to those in full-time employment but whose income was below a certain amount. Prior to FIS, persons in full-time employment were ineligible for any benefits aimed at reducing family poverty e.g. supplementary benefits (SB). It was opposed by the Labour Party, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and many academics because it utilizes a means test. This opposition is most clearly stated in literature published by CPAG. For instance, Frank Field, secretary of that organization, recently wrote: ‘From the word go, the CPAG has campaigned for family allowance increases for both those in and out of work, and since 1969 every action of the poverty lobby has been aimed at underminin public confidence in means-tested benefits.’