This is the final report from the ESRC-funded study, 'Couples balancing work, money and care: exploring the shifting landscape under Universal Credit', authored by Rita Griffiths, Marsha Wood, Fran Bennett, and Jane Millar.

Based on the lived experience of 90 research participants interviewed in 2018/19, 63 of whom were then interviewed again in 2020, the project examined how couples claiming Universal Credit – with and without dependent children, and in and out of employment – made decisions about work and care and dealt with their household finances. Their first-person accounts offer a unique insight into the experiences of a group of Universal Credit claimants that have, thus far, received too little attention in policy research and discussion.