- Policy & Research
- Key issues
- Welfare
Welfare
- 64% of prisoners claimed benefits during the 12 months before they went to prison. (1)
- Just 36% of people on release from prison go into education, training or employment, leaving most former offenders in need of support. (2)
- In 2010, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons said that “finance, benefit and debt remained one of the weakest resettlement pathways, often focusing on little more than closing down tenancies and ensuring that benefits were discontinued.” (3)
Access to appropriate welfare and support can be vital to an individual seeking to address multiple problems and escape from a cycle of crisis and crime. We believe that the government should put an understanding of multiple needs at the forefront of their reform of the welfare system. To achieve this, it must be recognized that:
- People with multiple problems need a staged approach to preparing for work. More details on this are available here.
- Increased conditionality must be preceded by increased support.
- There is a need for better benefits advice during and after prison sentences.
- Better joint working at a local level could improve chances that people will successfully move towards employment.
Relevent Revolving Doors Publications
- Response to the 21st Century Welfare consultation (October 2010)
- Hand to Mouth, our report looking at the impact of poverty and financial exclusion on adults with multiple needs is available here.
(1) Ministry of Justice (2010) Compendium of reoffending statistics and analysis, London: Ministry of Justice
(2) Bath, C. and Edgar, K., (2010) Time is Money: Financial responsibility after prison, London: Prison Reform Trust
(3) HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (2010), Annual Report 2008-09, London: The Stationery Office
