none 10.1332/204986020X15945756252756 Bristol University Press Bristol University Press 165 118693331 242727 2026072822160700216 10.1332 2026-07-28T22:16:15Z 2020-08-10T21:08:32Z 7 Critical and Radical Social Work 2049-8608 2049-8675 08 2020 8 2 Malcolm Carey University of Chester, UK Sophie Bell University of Chester, UK Universal Credit is a streamlined benefits delivery system initially introduced in the UK in 2008. Conditionality-based welfare policies are increasingly international in scale, and are now widely adopted by neoliberal governments on the basis that paid employment offers the most efficacious route out of poverty for citizen-subjects. Numerous studies suggest otherwise and highlight their negative impact upon the social rights, lived experiences and attempts to alleviate poverty for claimants. This article analyses the effect of the reformed benefit system and wider workfare policies upon lone mothers, including as a consequence of engagement with an ever-more stigmatising benefit system, and associated risks posed by sanctions or precarious low-paid employment. It highlights some of the consequences for social work with children and families of Universal Credit, including ongoing tensions and challenges created for the profession by the punitive policies of the workfare-oriented centaur state. 08 2020 189 203 10.1332/204986020X15945756252756 https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/crsw/8/2/article-p189.xml https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/crsw/8/2/article-p189.xml https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/crsw/2020/00000008/00000002/art00005 https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/crsw/8/2/article-p189.xml https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/crsw/8/2/article-p189.xml