Drawing on interviews with 22 low-income parents in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), this policy brief – written by Dr Marsha Wood, Dr Rita Griffiths and Professor Nick Pearce – highlights the key findings and recommendations of their report, which explores how the parents manage childcare costs, as well as their broader experiences of childcare and work conditionality requirements.

The interviews were conducted as part of a wider qualitative longitudinal research study, funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, exploring the experiences of working claimants on UC.