EIM76001 | Social security benefits: What are social security benefits?

Social security benefits are payments made to individuals under the social security system run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The various benefits are designed to meet different kinds of need. For example, the State pension is payable to people who have reached state pension age, child benefit to those who have children and statutory sick pay to employees who are absent from work due to illness.

From 2013, a number of social security benefits have been consolidated into a new payment called Universal Credit.

Those benefits are:

• Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit

• Housing Benefit

• income-based Employment and Support Allowance

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support

Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance have been replaced with New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance and New Style Employment and Support Allowance respectively, which are claimed separately from Universal Credit.