Research and analysis

Perceptions of the Department for Work and Pensions: wave 3 (October to November 2025)

Published 28 May 2026

DWP research report no. 1135.

A report of research carried out by Ipsos UK on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Crown copyright 2026.

You may use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License. To view this licence, visit the Open Government License on the National Archives website.

Or write to:

Information Policy Team,
The National Archives, Kew,
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TW9 4DU

Or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk

If you would like to know more about DWP research, email: socialresearch@dwp.gov.uk

First published May 2026.

ISBN 978-1-80786-000-4.

Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for Work and Pensions or any other government department.

Voluntary statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts (or pillars) of trustworthiness, quality and value:

• Trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics
• Quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics
• Value – is about publishing data that support society’s needs for information

The following explains how Ipsos has applied the pillars of the Code proportionately.

Trustworthiness

This research demonstrates trustworthiness through its commitment to independence and transparency. As an independent market research agency, Ipsos UK ensured that the findings are impartial and unbiased. Rigorous data security measures were implemented to protect participant anonymity, adhere to ethical standards and safeguard sensitive information.

Quality

The most appropriate research method was selected to deliver quality research within the scope of Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) requirements. Quantitative data were weighted to ensure that the results are representative by age, gender and region. All work adheres to Ipsos’ standards and accreditations including ISO 20252, ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and the Market Research Society’s Code of Conduct.

Value

The research findings provided insights into the perceptions of participants, including DWP customers and other cohorts of interest for DWP and Jobcentre Plus (JCP). This information will help DWP better communicate its services. The findings also hold value for other organisations, policymakers, and researchers interested in social welfare and policy implementation.

Authors

This report was written by researchers at Ipsos UK Public Affairs:

Elena Di Antonio, Associate Director.

Jill Mansfield, Research Manager.

Natasha Angus, Research Executive.

Executive summary

This report provides findings from the third wave of a survey to understand public perceptions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and Universal Credit (UC). These findings provide insight into perceptions of the Department among survey participants, including DWP customers, and are used to inform understanding of wider public attitudes towards DWP.

Key findings

Awareness

Of the individual Department for Work and Pensions brands, DWP, JCP and UC, awareness of UC continues to be the most widespread among participants and remains broadly consistent with previous waves. Over 4 in 5 (84%) have heard of UC, compared to 76% who have heard of DWP and 74% who have heard of JCP. Overall, 9 in 10 (90%) have heard of at least one of DWP, JCP or UC.

Knowledge

While awareness of DWP and its brands remains widespread, deeper knowledge continues to be limited. Among all participants, 1 in 3 (33%) say they know a fair amount or a lot about DWP, compared to 28% for JCP and 29% for UC.

Knowledge continues to be higher among DWP customers than all participants: 42% of DWP customers know a fair amount or a lot about DWP, 37% about JCP and 44% about UC. Customer knowledge of JCP has returned to wave 1 levels after a slight increase at wave 2 (37% at wave 1, 41% at wave 2, 37% at wave 3). Customer knowledge of UC has increased slightly since wave 1 (42% at wave 1 compared to 44% at wave 3).

Understanding of JCP’s remit is broadly stable and continues to be stronger for employment-related responsibilities than for welfare-related tasks.

DWP customers tend to have better knowledge of JCP’s remit, compared to all participants:

• ensuring people meet the conditions of their benefits (69% of DWP customers compared to 61% of all participants)
• providing advice and information on welfare benefits (65% compared to 56%)
• preventing and stopping fraudulent claims (63% compared to 56%)
• processing changes of circumstances (63% compared to 54%)

Views of DWP, JCP and UC

When asked to describe how they would speak about DWP and JCP, overall sentiment among participants remains neutral (42% would speak neutrally about DWP, 42% would speak neutrally about JCP). Sentiment towards UC also tends to be neutral (37% would speak neutrally).

Across waves, the proportion speaking neutrally about DWP has increased slightly (40% at wave 1, 42% at waves 2 and 3). The proportion speaking neutrally about UC has also increased (34% at wave 1, 37% at wave 3) but sentiment towards JCP has remained stable (41% at wave 1, 42% at waves 2 and 3).

The proportions speaking highly about JCP and DWP have significantly increased since wave 1 (20% spoke highly about JCP at waves 1 and 2, 23% spoke highly at wave 3, 21% spoke highly about DWP at waves 1 and 2, 23% at wave 3).

When asked about specific attributes in relation to DWP and JCP, participants are most likely to say that they lack resources (27% say this about DWP, 28% say this about JCP). This is the top attribute associated with DWP and JCP across waves and represents a significant increase since wave 1, which has been sustained at wave 3 both for DWP (25% at wave 1, 27% at wave 2, 27% at wave 3) and JCP (25% at wave 1, 29% at wave 2, 28% at wave 3).

Trust

Consistent with previous waves, most participants trust DWP to adhere to its values. For instance, 65% trust DWP to be open in providing information about an enquiry or claim, and 60% to take customers’ needs into account. DWP customers remain more likely than all participants to trust DWP across all measures.

Trust in DWP (including JCP) to provide different types of support varies by the support provided. Trust is lower for support centred on individual progression, such as helping people reach their full career potential (44%) compared with process-driven activities such as paying benefits accurately (56%).

DWP customers are more likely than all participants to trust DWP to deliver across these areas. For example, 66% of DWP customers trust DWP to pay benefits accurately compared to 56% of all participants. Higher proportions of DWP customers also trust DWP to apply sanctions accurately (65% compared to 53%) and to offer an effective recruitment service to employers (63% compared to 54%).

Accessing services

When looking for information on finding a job, participants would be most likely to use online jobs and careers websites (41%), followed by online research or web searches (34%) and recruitment agencies (33%). Among government sources, JCP remains the most likely source that people say they would use (30%), in line with previous waves.

For information on benefits, GOV.UK remains the top source among all participants (61%) followed by Citizens Advice (38%) and DWP (31%).

A new question at wave 3 shows that around a third of all participants (34%) would use online research or web searches for advice and information on skills and training, followed by online job and careers websites (25%) and GOV.UK (22%).

Confidence in receiving support from DWP and JCP remains steady. Just under half of participants would feel confident DWP would provide helpful support if needed (50% at wave 1, 48% at waves 2 and 3), and 45% say this about JCP (45% at all waves). DWP customers are more likely than all participants to be confident they would get helpful support from either DWP or JCP.

Among participants who are not confident they would get helpful support, the most frequent reason is not having had to ask for this support before (25%) or having heard from others that DWP or JCP are not helpful (22%). This is consistent with previous waves. Among DWP customers, the most frequent reason is previous bad experience (29%). This is also consistent with previous waves.

Support for specific groups

Views are mixed on whether DWP provides the right amount of support to people. Around a third of all participants think that DWP provides about the right amount of support to key groups, a further 25% to 40% think that DWP does not provide enough support and a similar proportion say they don’t know. This trend on views about support has remained consistent among participants across the 3 waves.

The 3 groups that participants are most likely to think there is not enough support for are:

• people over 50 who are not in work (36% think DWP doesn’t provide enough support to this group)
• people out of work or working a few hours due to disability or ill-health (32%)
• young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) (32%)

This trend has also been relatively stable across waves and where there have been changes, these have been small. For example, the proportion thinking not enough support is provided to 16 to 24s who are NEET increased significantly but only slightly from wave 1 to wave 2 (30% compared to 33%) and this increase has remained stable at wave 3 (32%).

Satisfaction with JCP offices

Most DWP customers who have visited a JCP office in the last year were satisfied with the physical environment (73%). Satisfaction was higher among groups who may have specific needs, including carers (80% were satisfied), parents of children under 16 (82%) and people receiving disability or health-related benefits (81%).

Knowledge of Personal Independence Payment eligibility

Knowledge of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) eligibility is limited. Around 2 in 3 participants (65%) correctly identify that eligibility relates to having a disability or health condition that impacts a person’s ability to do everyday tasks but over half (56%) incorrectly think eligibility relates to a person’s ability to work.

Awareness of PIP eligibility is higher among PIP claimants and people with a disability or a long-term health condition than among all participants. For example, 83% of PIP claimants and 74% of people with disabilities or long-term health conditions correctly recognise that eligibility relates to having a condition that affects everyday tasks, compared with 65% of all participants. However, misconceptions persist among these key groups, especially the misunderstanding that PIP is linked to the ability to work. Around 3 in 5 (61%) of people with disabilities or long-term health conditions and 59% of DWP customers incorrectly think this is part of PIP eligibility rules (compared with 56% of all participants).

Balancing payment accuracy with asking for more personal data

Most participants think it is more important to prioritise paying accurate benefit payments even if this means collecting additional personal data: 70% of participants would prioritise paying benefits accurately, even if that meant asking for more personal data. This compares with 14% who would prioritise limiting personal data collection, even if this means some claimants may be paid more or less in benefits than they are entitled to.

List of abbreviations

DWP: Department for Work and Pensions

HMRC: HM Revenue and Customs

JCP: Jobcentre Plus

NCS: National Careers Service

NEET: Not in education, employment or training (young people aged 16 to 24)

PC: Pension Credit

SP: State Pension

UC: Universal Credit

PIP: Personal Independence Payment

Glossary of terms

Term	Definition
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)	Department of the UK Government responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. Administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and health-related benefits.
Jobcentre Plus (JCP)	Agency of the UK Government and brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions. Delivers a range of employment and welfare support services.
Universal Credit (UC)	A UK social security means-tested payment for working- age households with a low income.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)	A social security benefit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that provides additional financial support for people with a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability who have difficulty with certain everyday tasks or getting around because of their condition. An equivalent benefit is available in Scotland.
Benefit recipient	A claimant of any DWP benefit. Benefits are defined as financial support for people who are out of work, on a low income, or have a health condition or disability.
Carer	Someone who looks after or gives help or support to anyone because they have a long-term physical or mental health condition(s) or illnesses, a disability or problems related to old age.
DWP customer	Someone who has used DWP, JCP or UC in the past year either: for themselves, to help someone else (such as a family or friend), in their capacity as an employer, to help an employee, or in a professional capacity or as a volunteer with an organisation, such as to help someone get benefits advice.
DWP appointees	An appointed individual who has the right to deal with the benefits of someone who cannot manage their own affairs because they are mentally incapable or severely disabled.
In-work benefits	State benefits that people who are in paid employment may be eligible for, such as Universal Credit.
Out-of-work benefits	State benefits that people who are not in paid employment may be eligible for, such as Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Sanctions	Where someone’s benefit payments are stopped or otherwise limited for a period of time because they have not met the terms of their claimant agreement with DWP.
Significant/statistically significant	Comparisons between data are described as significant increases or decreases. This means that the difference is large enough that it is likely due to a genuine effect of relationships in the data and not due to random chance. Increases and decreases in this report are only shown when a statistical test shows these were significant. This is explained further in the report methodology.
Wave	A distinct survey, conducted at one point in time. Each time the survey is run, this is called a wave. The wave is a specific period of time when the survey is open.

Background and methodology

Background to the research

This report provides findings from the third wave of a survey to understand public perceptions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and Universal Credit (UC).

The findings from this study provide DWP with insight into perceptions of the Department among survey participants, including DWP customers, and are used to inform understanding of wider public attitudes towards DWP.

Wave 1 of this research took place in October 2024 with a sample size of 5,002 UK adults aged 16 and over. Wave 2 took place between May and June 2025, with a sample size of 4,004 UK adults aged 16 and over.

Research objectives

The objectives of this research were to understand:

• how DWP is perceived by the general public
• how perceptions vary between DWP’s key audiences, such as DWP customers
• the factors that influence these perceptions

Secondary objectives were to understand awareness of the jobcentre environment and sources of information for training and skills.

Methodology

The research for wave 3 comprised an online quantitative survey. The sample was drawn from Ipsos’ online panels, designed to reflect the UK population of adults aged 16 and over in the UK. This report is based on final, weighted data from 5,001 interviews.

Fieldwork was carried out between 21 October and 10 November 2025. All findings reported are significant at the 95% confidence interval.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire covered:

• awareness of DWP, JCP and UC
• knowledge and understanding of responsibilities and remit of DWP and JCP
• perceptions of DWP and JCP, such as how effectively they deliver their services and how well they support their customers
• feelings of trust in DWP and JCP, based on perceptions of DWP’s transparency, competence, treatment of customers
• use of and access to DWP’s services
• views of the Jobcentre Plus environment
• sources of information and advice for training and skills
• trust in Jobcentre Plus to provide support to find quality jobs
• how DWP balances the collection of personal data versus paying the correct amount of benefits
• requirements to receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Data weighting and analysis

Data are weighted to the profile of the UK population by age, gender and region. Significant differences are indicated:

• with one asterisk (*) for differences between wave 2 and wave 3
• with 2 asterisks (**) for differences between wave 1 and wave 3
• with a caret (^) for differences between subgroups

These symbols are also defined in the footnotes for charts where these are shown.

Subgroup differences are reported where there are consistent differences for demographic or other groups across related survey questions.

Data is shown as whole percentages rounded to the nearest whole percent. Where data points are the total of 2 or more data points (such as the total of strongly agree and slightly agree responses), the effect of rounding may mean that there are variations of up to 1% between values reported in charts and text.

Statistical significance

Differences described as significant are statistically significant within a confidence interval of 95%. Differences that are statistically significant can be considered ‘real’ differences and unlikely to have happened by chance.

Open-ended responses, such as “other, please specify” were coded with a threshold of 10 new responses for a new answer code.

Some totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding and where responses such as “prefer not to say” are not shown. Percentages under 5% may not be shown.

Defining “DWP customers”

For the purposes of this survey, the term “DWP customers” is defined as those who had interacted with DWP, JCP or UC on their own behalf or for someone else (including in a professional capacity) within the last year.^{[footnote 1]} This definition is derived from their responses to the survey.^{[footnote 2]}

Note that:

• not all DWP benefit recipients are defined as DWP customers if they have not interacted with DWP, JCP or UC in the last year
• not all DWP customers are DWP benefit recipients, although there are high degrees of crossover between the 2 groups

People who have interacted with DWP, JCP or UC on someone else’s behalf are not necessarily DWP appointees as the definition of a DWP appointee is more limited than that used in the questionnaire.

More detailed criteria are set out in the GOV.UK guidance on becoming an appointee for someone claiming benefits.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ audiences

This chapter presents a breakdown of use of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and Universal Credit (UC) services in the last year. It compares demographic and household characteristics of those who have used DWP, JCP or UC in the last year and those of the wider population.

Use of DWP in the past year

Of the 3 key departmental brands (DWP, JCP or UC), people are significantly more likely to report having used DWP in the past year, either for themselves or on behalf of another person (37%, compared to 32% UC and 31% for JCP).

Among participants:

• 22% say they have used DWP for themselves or someone in their family or household, higher than UC (19%) and JCP (18%)
• 11% report using DWP to help someone else, such as a friend or relative
• 7% say they have used DWP in their capacity as a professional or volunteer with an organisation, such as to help someone get benefits advice
• 6% say they have used DWP for reasons related to employment or as part of their business

Just over 1 in 10 (11%) say that they have used JCP to help someone else, such as a friend or relative. Meanwhile, 9% of people say that they have used JCP in a professional or voluntary capacity with an organisation, such as to help someone get benefits advice.

Around 1 in 5 (19%) of all participants say that they have used UC for themselves or someone in their household, while 11% say they have used UC to help someone else. Meanwhile, 8% of people say that they have used UC in a professional capacity or as a volunteer with an organisation.

Figure 1 Use of DWP, JCP and UC by all participants at wave 3

Use of DWP, JCP and UC	Department for Work and Pensions	Jobcentre Plus	Universal Credit
Used in any capacity	37%^	31%	32%
I have used this for myself or someone else in my family or household	22%^	18%	19%
I have helped someone else use this	11%	11%	11%
I have used this in a professional capacity or as a volunteer with an organisation	7%	9%	8%
I have used this as an employer or part of my business	6%	0%	0%
None of these, I have not used this at all in the last year	56%^	64%	63%

Q21. Which, if any, of the following best describes your experience with each of these in the last year? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001. ^ indicates significant differences between DWP, JCP and UC.

Benefit claimants among DWP customers

DWP customers are more likely than all participants to say that they claim DWP benefits. Almost half (45%) of DWP customers report currently claiming DWP benefits compared to a quarter (25%) of all participants.

Figure 2 Benefit claiming status among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Benefit claiming status	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
State Pension	18%^	12%
Universal Credit	12%	24%^
Child Benefit	12%	17%^
Housing Benefit	7%	13%^
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)	6%	11%
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)	5%	10%
Child Tax Credit	4%	8%
Carer’s Allowance	4%	7%
Working Tax Credit	4%	8%
Pension Credit	4%	7%
Any DWP benefit excl State Pension	25%	45%^
None of these	50%	34%

Q9. Are you currently claiming any of the following state benefits, the State Pension or any tax credits? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Demographic profile of DWP customers surveyed

DWP customers are more likely to be male than female, with 53% being male and 47% female. DWP customers are most likely to be aged 25 to 34 (22%) and least likely to be 65 or over (10% are 65–74 years, 6% are 75 or over).

Figure 3 Age profile of those who have used DWP, JCP or UC at wave 3

Age profile	Percentage
16 to 24	16%
25 to 34	22%
35 to 44	19%
45 to 54	15%
55 to 64	12%
65 to 74	10%
75 and over	6%

Q21. Which, if any, of the following best describes your experience with each of these in the last year? Base: DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323.

As shown in Figure 4, the profile of DWP customers (those who have used DWP, JCP or UC in the past year) is different to that of all participants on key demographic variables other than age and gender. DWP customers are significantly more likely than all participants to:

• live in a household with children under the age of 16 (42% of DWP customers compared to 29% of all participants)
• have a long-term health condition or disability that reduces their ability to carry out their day-to-day activities (41% of DWP customers compared to 32% of all participants)
• carry out caring duties for another person (31% DWP customers compared to 23% of all participants)
• be from among a minority ethnic background (25% of DWP customers compared to 18% of all participants)

Figure 4 Characteristics of all participants compared to DWP customers at wave 3

Characteristic	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Live in a household with children under 16	29%	42%^
Have a long-term health condition	32%	41%^
Carry out caring duties	23%	31%^
From an ethnic minority	18%	25%^

Various demographic and profiling questions. Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Awareness of the Department for Work and Pensions

This chapter examines awareness of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and Universal Credit (UC) among participants. It looks at how this varies among demographic groups and how the data compares with the baseline wave (wave 1), and the previous wave (wave 2).

Awareness of DWP brands

Among all participants, 9 in 10 (90%) have heard of either DWP, JCP or UC. As with previous waves, UC continues to be the most widely recognised DWP brand, with 84% of all participants saying they have heard of it. This is consistent with wave 2 (86%) and wave 1 (83%).

DWP is the second most recognised brand, with 76% of all participants aware of it, again consistent with wave 1 (75%) and wave 2 (77%). This is followed by JCP, with 74% aware of the brand (73% at wave 1, 74% at wave 2).

Among different government departments, DWP (76%) continues to be less widely known than HM Revenues and Customs (81%) and the Home Office (80%) but more widely recognised than the Department for Education (72%), and the Department of Health and Social Care (63%).

Figure 5 Awareness of organisations and benefits among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Awareness of organisations and benefits	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
DWP, JCP and/or UC	90%	92%	90%*
Universal Credit	83%	86%	84%*
HMRC	80%	82%	81%
Home Office	81%	82%	80%*
Citizens Advice	79%	82%	80%*
DWP	75%	77%	76%
MoneySavingExpert.com	73%	76%	74%*
Jobcentre Plus	73%	74%	74%
Department for Education	71%	73%	72%
PIP	0%	67%	67%
Dept of Health & Social Care	63%	64%	63%
National Careers Service	39%	38%	38%

Q8. Before today, which, if any of the following have you heard of? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, wave 2 n=4,004, wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between waves 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between waves 1 and 3. Participants were not asked about their awareness of PIP in wave 1.

Knowledge of DWP

Consistent with previous waves, while most participants have heard of DWP, JCP and UC, fewer report a deep knowledge of these organisations. A third (33%) of all participants know a lot or a fair amount about DWP, reducing to 29% for UC and 28% for JCP. Figure 6 shows that claimed knowledge of DWP brands has remained steady across waves.

Figure 6 Level of knowledge about DWP, JCP or UC among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Wave	A lot	A fair amount	A little bit	Heard of it but nothing else	Not heard of it
Wave 1 DWP	9%	25%	33%	8%	25%
Wave 2 DWP	9%	25%**	34%	9%	23%
Wave 3 DWP	9%	25%	33%	9%	24%
Wave 1 JCP	9%	19%	31%	12%	27%
Wave 2 JCP	9%	20%	33%	12%	26%**
Wave 3 JCP	8%	19%	32%	14%	26%
Wave 1 UC	10%	19%	34%	20%	17%
Wave 3 UC	10%	19%	33%	20%	16%

Q12. Before today, how much, if anything, would you say you knew about…? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between wave 1 and 3.

Consistent with both previous waves, knowledge of DWP brands is greater among customers. When compared with all participants, DWP customers are more likely to:

• know at least a fair amount about DWP (42% of DWP customers, compared to 33% of all participants)
• know at least a fair amount about JCP (37% of DWP customers, compared to 28% of all participants)
• know at least a fair amount about UC (44% of DWP customers, compared to 29% of all participants)

Figure 7 Level of knowledge about DWP among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Level of knowledge about DWP	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Knows a fair amount or a lot about DWP	33%	42%^
Heard of DWP but nothing else/knows a little	42%	27%^

Q12. Before today, how much, if anything, would you say you knew about DWP? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Figure 8 Level of knowledge about JCP among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Level of knowledge about JCP	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Knows a fair amount or a lot about JCP	28%	37%^
Heard of JCP but nothing else/knows a little	45%	30%^

Q12. Before today, how much, if anything, would you say you knew about JCP? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Figure 9 Level of knowledge about UC among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Level of knowledge about UC	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Knows a fair amount or a lot about UC	29%	44%^
Heard of UC but nothing else/knows a little	53%	34%^

Q12. Before today, how much, if anything, would you say you knew about UC? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Among all participants, levels of knowledge of the 3 DWP brands have remained stable:

• 33% say they know a fair amount/a lot about DWP (34% at waves 1 and 2)
• 28% say they know a fair amount/a lot about JCP (28% at wave 1, 29% at wave 2)
• 29% say they know a fair amount/a lot about UC (28% at wave 1)

Among customers, there is little movement between waves:

• knowledge of DWP has reverted to wave 1 levels after a small increase at wave 2 (42% of customers know a fair amount or a lot about DWP at wave 3, compared to 44% at wave 2 and 40% at wave 1)
• similarly, knowledge of JCP has returned to levels seen at wave 1, after an increase at wave 2 (37% at wave 3, 41% at wave 2, 37% at wave 1)
• knowledge of UC has increased very slightly at wave 3, with 44% saying they know a fair amount or a lot, compared to 42% at wave 1 (participants were not asked about UC at wave 2)

Understanding of the Jobcentre Plus remit

Participants continue to view JCP mainly as a resource for unemployed people seeking jobs, rather than as a resource for the provision of welfare support or advice. For example, 83% of all participants recognise that JCP’s remit includes giving advice to help people into work and 82% say that JCP matches unemployed people to jobs. This compares to 48% who say that JCP assesses and processes claims for welfare benefits, and 56% who say it provides information and advice on welfare benefits.

Most increases seen at wave 2 have been sustained. For instance, at wave 1, 81% identified that JCP provided advice to help people into work, rising to 84% at wave 2 and 83% at wave 3. Similarly, at wave 1, 80% identified that JCP matches people to jobs, increasing to 83% at wave 2 and 82% at wave 3.

Figure 10 Those who identify individual tasks as the responsibility of JCP among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Task	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Advice to help people into work	81%	84%	83%**
Matching unemployed people to jobs	80%	83%	82%**
Helping unemployed people to prepare for work	79%	81%	81%**
Supporting young people aged 16 to 24 into work	73%	76%	76%**
Training and advice to help people receiving benefits increase earnings	72%	74%	73%
Provide advice and information on skills development	0	0	74%
Careers and jobs advice for people who want to change jobs	68%	68%	70%**, *
Help employers fill lower-skilled vacancies	68%	70%	71%**
Help employers fill higher-skilled vacancies	61%	61%	63%**
Ensuring people meet the conditions of receiving their benefits	58%	62%	61%**
Providing advice and information on welfare benefits	55%	57%	56%
Preventing and stopping fraudulent benefit claims	54%	57%	56%**
Change of circumstances for people receiving state benefits	52%	55%	54%**
Assessing and processing claims for welfare benefits	47%	50%	48%
Paying in- or out-of-work benefits to people of working age	47%	49%	46%*
Paying benefits to people unable to work due to health or disability	45%	45%	42%**, *
Providing help with childcare costs for parents and carers claiming UC	35%	38%	35%*

Q15. Which of the following, if any, do you think are responsibilities of Jobcentre Plus? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between waves 1 and 3. The response option “provide advice and information on skills development” was not included in waves 1 and 2 and was added at wave 3.

As shown in Figure 11, knowledge of most aspects of JCP’s remit is higher among DWP customers, as they continue to be more likely than all participants to correctly identify JCP’s tasks. This is mostly the case for benefits-related tasks. For instance, DWP customers are significantly more likely than all participants to identify “providing advice and information on welfare benefits” (65% of DWP customers say this compared to 56% of all participants) as a task of JCP. Furthermore, DWP customers are more likely than all participants to identify “ensuring people meet the conditions of receiving their benefits” (69% of DWP customers say this compared to 61% of all participants) as a task of JCP.

For most job-related tasks, all participants and DWP customers see JCP’s responsibilities in similar ways. For example, 83% of all participants and 82% of DWP customers identify providing “advice to help people into work” as one of JCP’s tasks; and 81% of all participants and 81% of DWP customers identify “helping unemployed people prepare for work” as a task of JCP.

Figure 11 Those who identify individual tasks as the responsibility of JCP among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Task	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Advice to help people into work	83%	82%
Matching unemployed people to jobs	82%	80%^
Helping unemployed people to prepare for work	81%	81%
Supporting young people aged 16 to 24 into work	76%	76%
Training and advice to help people receiving benefits increase earnings	73%	76%^
Provide advice and information on skills development	74%	76%
Careers and jobs advice for people who want to change jobs	70%	71%
Help employers fill lower-skilled vacancies	71%	71%
Help employers fill higher-skilled vacancies	63%	65%
Ensuring people meet the conditions of receiving their benefits	61%	69%^
Providing advice and information on welfare benefits	56%	65%^
Preventing and stopping fraudulent benefit claims	56%	63%^
Change of circumstances for people receiving state benefits	54%	63%^
Assessing and processing claims for welfare benefits	48%	59%^
Paying in- or out-of-work benefits to people of working age	46%	56%^
Paying benefits to people unable to work due to health or disability	42%	53%^
Providing help with childcare costs for parents claiming UC	35%	46%^

Q15. Which of the following, if any, do you think are responsibilities of Jobcentre Plus? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Consistent with higher levels of claimed knowledge of JCP, DWP customers continue to be more likely than all participants to correctly identify tasks within JCP’s remit. DWP customers are significantly more likely to identify JCP as responsible for welfare tasks than employment related tasks.

Views of DWP

This chapter looks at the reputation of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and Universal Credit (UC) among all participants and DWP customers. It also explores perceptions of how DWP, JCP and UC deliver their services and the challenges people think DWP, JCP and UC may face.

Favourability towards DWP, JCP and UC

When asked to describe how they would speak about DWP and JCP, overall sentiment among participants remains neutral. As Figure 12 shows, 42% of participants would speak neutrally about DWP and JCP. Similarly, 37% would speak neutrally about UC, a slight increase from 34% at wave 1. 

Opinions are relatively similar between positive and negative views (between 16% and 23% would speak positively or negatively about either organisation).  

Across waves, the proportion of participants speaking neutrally about DWP has increased slightly (40% at wave 1, 42% at waves 2 and 3). The proportion speaking neutrally about UC has also increased (34% at wave 1, 37% at wave 3) but sentiment towards JCP has remained stable (41% at wave 1, 42% at waves 2 and 3). 

As with previous waves, participants are more likely to express an opinion about DWP than to have an opinion about JCP or UC (13% don’t know how they would speak about DWP, compared with 15% who said this about JCP and 18% who said this about UC).

Figure 12 Overall sentiment among all participants towards DWP, JCP and UC at waves 1, 2 and 3

Wave	Speak highly if asked/without being asked	Critical if asked/without being asked	Neutral	Don’t know
Wave 1 DWP	21%	21%	40%	13%
Wave 2 DWP	21%	20%	42%	14%
Wave 3 DWP	23%**, *	20%	42%**	13%
Wave 1 JCP	20%	17%	41%	16%
Wave 2 JCP	20%	16%	42%	17%
Wave 3 JCP	23%**, *	17%	42%	15%*
Wave 1 UC	18%	23%	34%	20%
Wave 3 UC	19%	23%	37%**	18%**

Q16. Which phrase best describes the way you would speak about the following? “Prefer not to say” and “None of these” are not shown. Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between wave 1 and 3.

At wave 3, just over 1 in 3 (35%) of DWP customers would speak highly about DWP, compared to 23% of all participants. The picture is similar for perceptions of JCP: 34% of DWP customers would speak highly about JCP compared to 23% of all participants.

For UC, 1 in 3 of DWP customers (33%) would speak highly of it compared to 19% of all participants. 

The proportions speaking highly about JCP and DWP have significantly increased since wave 1 (20% spoke highly about JCP at waves 1 and 2, 23% spoke highly at wave 3; 21% spoke highly about DWP at waves 1 and 2, 23% at wave 3).

Figure 13 Overall views of DWP, JCP and UC among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Participants	Speak highly if asked/without being asked	Critical if asked/without being asked	Neutral	Don’t know
All participants: DWP	23%	20%	42%^	13%^
DWP customers: DWP	35%^	23%^	36%	5%
All participants: JCP	23%	17%	42%^	15%^
DWP customers: JCP	34%^	22%^	35%	7%
All participants: UC	19%	23%	37%^	18%^
DWP customers: UC	33%^	24%	33%	8%

Q16. Which phrase best describes the way you would speak about the following? “Prefer not to say” and “None of these” are not shown. Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Views of DWP and JCP

Participants were presented with a list of attributes and asked which fitted with their ideas or impressions of DWP and JCP.  

Participants’ most commonly thought that both DWP and JCP lacked resources (DWP 27%, JCP 28%). The other attributes most frequently associated with DWP are:

• being professional in its approach (23%)  

• being trustworthy (22%) 

• being capable (22%)  

• treating customers fairly (21%) 

• being out of touch with its customers (20%)  

The most common attributes associated with JCP (after lacking resources) are: 

• being capable (22%) 

• being professional in its approach (21%) 

• treating customers fairly (21%) 

• treating customers with respect (21%) 

• being trustworthy (21%)

Lacking resources has repeatedly been the top attribute associated with DWP and JCP across all waves. The proportion selecting this attribute significantly increased at wave 2, a rise that has been sustained at wave 3, both for DWP (25% at wave 1, 27% at wave 2, 27% at wave 3) and JCP (25% at wave 1, 29% at wave 2, 28% at wave 3).

Figure 14 Overall views of DWP and JCP among all participants at wave 3

Wave 3	Views of DWP	Views of JCP
Does not have enough resources	27%	28%
Professional in its approach	23%	21%*
Capable	22%	22%
Trustworthy	22%	21%
Out of touch with its customers	20%	17%*
Treats customers with respect	19%	21%*
Treats customers fairly	21%	21%
Serves the British public well	19%	17%*
Carries out tasks inefficiently	17%	14%*
Is unhelpful to customers	14%	13%
Open about how it makes decisions	15%	13%*
Puts its customers first	11%	13%*
Offers an effective recruitment service	10%	21%*
Don’t know	19%	21%*
None of these	3%	3%

Q17. Here is a list of things, both favourable and unfavourable, that have been said about DWP/JCP. Select each statement that fits your ideas or impressions of DWP/JCP. Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between views of DWP and views of JCP.

Figure 15 Views of DWP among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

View of DWP	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Does not have enough resources	25%	27%	27%**
Professional in its approach	21%	22%	23%**
Out of touch with its customers	21%	20%	20%
Capable	20%	21%	22%**
Treats customers with respect	19%	19%	19%
Trustworthy	19%	21%	22%**
Serves the British public well	19%	18%	19%
Treats customers fairly	18%	19%	21%**, *
Carries out tasks inefficiently	16%	17%	17%
Is unhelpful to customers	15%	15%	14%
Open about how it makes decisions	13%	14%	15%**
Puts its customers first	12%	11%	11%
Offers an effective recruitment service	10%	9%	10%
Don’t know	18%	19%	19%
None of these	4%	3%	3%

Q17. Here is a list of things, both favourable and unfavourable, that have been said about DWP. Select each statement that fits your ideas or impressions of DWP. Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between wave 1 and 3.

Figure 16 Views of JCP among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

View of JCP	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Does not have enough resources	25%	29%	28%**
Treats customers with respect	20%	19%	21%*
Capable	19%	21%	22%**
Professional in its approach	19%	20%	21%**
Treats customers fairly	19%	19%	21%**, *
Offers an effective recruitment service	19%	18%	21%**, *
Trustworthy	18%	19%	21%**, *
Out of touch with its customers	17%	16%	17%
Serves the British public well	16%	17%	17%
Carries out tasks inefficiently	15%	14%	14%
Open about how it makes decisions	12%	13%	13%
Is unhelpful to customers	14%	12%	13%
Puts its customers first	12%	12%	13%
Don’t know	22%	22%	21%

Q17. Here is a list of things, both favourable and unfavourable, that have been said about JCP. Select each statement that fits your ideas or impressions of JCP. Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between wave 1 and 3.

Views of DWP customers

As observed at previous waves, DWP customers are more likely to express an opinion about DWP and JCP than all participants. When presented with a list of statements about DWP and JCP, 19% of all participants say they don’t know which best reflects their ideas about DWP, and 21% say this about JCP. In comparison, only 8% of DWP customers say they don’t know this about DWP, and 11% about JCP. This aligns with DWP customers being more likely than all participants to say they know a lot/a fair amount about DWP and JCP (see Figures 6 and 7).

Consistent with this, DWP customers are also more likely than all participants to associate both positive and negative attributes with DWP and JCP – that is, their views are more polarised. For example, Figure 17 shows that 29% of DWP customers think DWP is professional in its approach compared to 23% of all participants. Figure 18 also shows that 26% of DWP customers think JCP is professional in its approach compared to 21% of all participants. 

Regarding negative attributes, the differences between DWP customers and all participants are smaller, at 1 to 3 percentage points. For instance, 17% of all participants and 20% of DWP customers think that JCP is out of touch with its customers, while 20% of all participants and 22% of DWP customers think this for DWP.

Figure 17 Attributes identified with DWP among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Attribute	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Professional in its approach	23%	29%^
Capable	22%	29%^
Treats customers with respect	19%	26%^
Trustworthy	22%	31%^
Serves the British public well	19%	24%^
Treats customers fairly	21%	27%^
Open about how it makes decisions	15%	21%^
Puts its customers first	11%	17%^
Offers an effective recruitment service	10%	13%^

Attribute	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Does not have enough resources	27%	27%
Out of touch with its customers	20%	22%
Carries out tasks inefficiently	17%	20%^
Is unhelpful to customers	14%	15%

Attribute	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Don’t know	19%	8%^

Q17. Here is a list of things, both favourable and unfavourable, that have been said about DWP. Select each statement that fits your ideas or impressions of DWP. Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Figure 18 Attributes identified with JCP among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Attribute	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Professional in its approach	21%	26%^
Capable	22%	29%^
Treats customers with respect	21%	27%^
Trustworthy	21%	29%^
Serves the British public well	17%	20%^
Treats customers fairly	21%	26%^
Open about how it makes decisions	13%	19%^
Puts its customers first	13%	18%^
Offers an effective recruitment service	21%	24%^

Attribute	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Does not have enough resources	28%	28%
Out of touch with its customers	17%	20%^
Carries out tasks inefficiently	14%	17%^
Is unhelpful to customers	13%	15%^

Attribute	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Don’t know	21%	11%^

Q17. Here is a list of things, both favourable and unfavourable, that have been said about JCP. Select each statement that fits your ideas or impressions of JCP. Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

At wave 3, perceptions of DWP and JCP among customers are largely consistent with previous waves. Notably, the rise seen at wave 2 in those selecting “does not have enough resources” has held: 27% at wave 3, 29% at wave 2, 24% at wave 1 for DWP; and 28% at wave 3, 29% at wave 2, 25% at wave 1 for JCP. However, there are some differences in perceptions of attributes between waves:

• at wave 3, 29% of DWP customers say that JCP is capable, which has steadily increased from 24% at wave 1 and 27% at wave 2

• the proportion of DWP customers saying that JCP treats customers fairly has increased significantly from 24% at wave 1 to 26% at wave 3 

• at wave 3, 29% of DWP customers said that JCP is trustworthy, an increase from 26% at wave 1

Trust in the Department for Work and Pensions

This chapter looks at trust in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) among all participants and DWP customers.

Trust in DWP to adhere to its values

When asked to what extent they trust DWP to act across a range of values, most participants continue to trust DWP to adhere to each one listed. For instance, 65% trust DWP to be open in providing information about their enquiry or claim, and 60% to take its customers’ needs into account. Levels of trust haven’t changed significantly since wave 1.

Figure 19 Would trust DWP to adhere to a range of values among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Would trust DWP…	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
To be open in providing information about my enquiry or claim	65%	65%	65%
To do what it says it will	62%	63%	63%
To act consistently	61%	63%	62%
To do its best for customers	61%	61%	62%
To take its customers’ needs into account in how it provides services	59%	60%	60%
To deliver a high-quality service	58%	60%	59%

Q13. To what extent do you trust the Department for Work and Pensions to do each of the following…? Please think about everything you believe, think or have experienced with the Department for Work and Pensions (including Jobcentre Plus). Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between wave 1 and 3. 

Customers continue to be more likely than all participants to trust DWP to adhere to its values, reflecting their greater levels of knowledge and more positive attitudes towards DWP (Figure 20). For instance, 70% of customers trust DWP to do what it says it will and 68% to act consistently.

Figure 20 Would trust DWP to adhere to a range of values among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Would trust DWP…	All participants wave 3	DWP customer wave 3
To be open in providing information about my enquiry or claim	65%	72%^
To do what it says it will	63%	70%^
To act consistently	62%	68%^
To do its best for customers	62%	68%^
To take its customers’ needs into account in how it provides services	60%	67%^
To deliver a high-quality service	59%	68%^

Q13. To what extent do you trust the Department for Work and Pensions to do each of the following…? Please think about everything you believe, think or have experienced with the Department for Work and Pensions (including Jobcentre Plus). Base: all participants wave 3 n= 5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n = 2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Trust in types of support

The extent to which participants trust DWP to provide support to people varies depending on the type of support provided. For instance:

• 58% trust DWP to provide employment support for people on welfare benefits seeking work. This has decreased from 60% at wave 2, returning to the figure seen at wave 1 (58%)
• 56% trust DWP to pay benefits people are entitled to accurately (compared to 55% at wave 1, 58% at wave 2)
• 53% trust DWP to apply sanctions accurately. This has significantly decreased from 56% at wave 2, returning to the wave 1 levels (53%)

Fewer people trust DWP to focus on support centred around individual needs. For example:

• 44% of all participants trust DWP to help people reach their career potential (compared to 45% at wave 1 and 46% at wave 2)
• 53% trust DWP to help people develop new skills to progress at work. This is a statistically significant increase from to 51% at wave 1, but in line with wave 2 (54%)
• 51% trust DWP to support people claiming in-work benefits to earn more money so they don’t need to claim. This has significantly decreased from wave 2 (54%), returning to wave 1 levels (50%)

Figure 21 Agree a fair amount/great deal that they trust DWP to provide different types of support among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Type of support	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Employment support for people on welfare benefits seeking work	58%	60%	58%
Pay benefits people are entitled to accurately	55%	58%	56%
Offer effective recruitment service to employers	53%	55%	54%
Apply sanctions accurately	53%	56%	53%*
Help people develop new skills to progress in work	51%	54%	53%**
Provide appropriate employment support to people with a disability/long term health condition	52%	54%	53%
Provide effective employment support to people not on benefits who are seeking work	54%	53%	52%**
Support people claiming in-work benefits to earn more so they don’t need to claim	50%	54%	51%*
Help people to reach their full career potential	45%	46%	44%
Help people find jobs that are suitable for their skills and experiences	Not applicable	Not applicable	58%
Help people find jobs that are suitable for their personal circumstances	Not applicable	Not applicable	56%

Q18. To what extent do you trust the Department for Work and Pensions (including Jobcentre Plus) to…? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, all participants wave 2 n=4,004, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. * indicates significant differences between wave 2 and 3, ** indicates significant differences between wave 1 and 3. The response options “help people find jobs that are suitable for their skills and experiences” and “help people find jobs that are suitable for their personal circumstances” were not included in waves 1 and 2 and were added at wave 3.

Figure 22 shows that just over half of all participants trust DWP (including JCP) to match people to jobs suited to their circumstances (56%) or to their skills and experience (58%), although fewer trust DWP to help them reach their full career potential (44%). DWP customers are more likely than all participants to trust DWP (including JCP) to deliver across a range of services. They are more likely than all participants to trust DWP to deliver key welfare services, such as paying benefits accurately (66% among DWP customers compared to 56% of all participants) and applying sanctions accurately (65% of DWP customers compared to 53% of all participants).

Figure 22 Agree a fair amount/great deal that they trust DWP to provide different types of support among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Type of support	All participants wave 3	DWP customer wave 3
Employment support for people on welfare benefits seeking work	58%	65%^
Help people find jobs suitable for their skills and experience	58%	64%^
Pay benefits people are entitled to accurately	56%	66%^
Help people find jobs suitable for their circumstances	56%	63%^
Apply sanctions to customer’s benefits accurately	53%	65%^
Offer effective recruitment service to employers	54%	63%^
Provide employment support to people with health conditions	53%	61%^
Help people develop new skills to progress in work	53%	62%^
Support people claiming in-work benefits to earn more	51%	61%^
Provide effective employment support to people not on benefits	52%	58%^
Help people to reach their full career potential	44%	55%^

Q18. To what extent do you trust the Department for Work and Pensions (including Jobcentre Plus) to…? Base: all participants wave 3 n= 5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n = 2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Figure 23 shows a new statement asked at wave 3. Customers are significantly more likely than all participants to trust JCP to support people to find jobs with good quality employers (61%, compared with 50% of all participants).

Figure 23 Trust JCP to support people to find jobs with good quality employers among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Trust JCP	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
A great deal/fair amount	50%	61%^
Not at all/not very much	31%^	28%

Q48. To what extent, if at all, do you trust JCP to support people to find jobs with good quality employers? By good quality employers, we mean those who offer training opportunities, are recognised for workplace excellence, are committed to fair and ethical hiring and meet industry employment standards. Base: all participants wave 3 n= 5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n = 2,323. ^ indicates significant differences between all participants and DWP customers.

Accessing support

This chapter looks at the sources of support that all participants and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) customers would use to find a job, as well as confidence in receiving support from DWP and Jobcentre Plus (JCP), and barriers to receiving this.

Sources of information on jobs

When looking for information on finding a job, participants would be most likely to use online jobs and careers websites (41%). This is consistent with previous waves where this was the top source: 39% selected jobs and careers websites at wave 1, 42% selected it at wave 2.

The second most frequently selected source for information on finding a job is online research or a web search (34%) followed by recruitment agencies (33%). This is consistent with wave 2 when 33% of all participants selected online research or web search and 32% selected recruitment agencies. The significant increase in the proportion selecting online web search at wave 2 compared to wave 1 (26%) has been sustained at wave 3.

Regarding government sources:

• consistent with previous waves, the government source that participants would be most likely to use for information on finding a job is Jobcentre Plus (30%)
• the significant decrease in the proportion using Jobcentre Plus observed at wave 2 has been sustained at wave 3 (32% at wave 1, 29% at wave 2)
• inclination to use GOV.UK has reverted to wave 1 levels (wave 1 and wave 3, both 23%) following an increase at wave 2 to 29%
• use of other key government sources is consistent with previous waves: 15% would use NCS (compared with 15% at wave 1 and 14% at wave 2) while 9% would use DWP (compared with 10% at both waves 1 and 2)

Figure 24 Would use for advice and information on finding a job, for help in working more hours or to get a better paid job, among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Source of advice and information	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Online job and careers websites	39%	42%	41%
Online research or websearch	26%	33%	34%
Recruitment agencies	32%	32%	33%
My local Jobcentre Plus	32%	29%	30%
Family or friends	22%	29%	24%
GOV.UK	23%	29%	23%
Social media	Not applicable	Not applicable	16%
My employer	15%	18%	15%
National Careers Service	15%	14%	15%
Other employers	14%	13%	14%
AI platforms	Not applicable	Not applicable	11%
Department for Work and Pensions	10%	10%	9%
Local council	10%	10%	9%
Trade union or association	9%	8%	9%
School, university careers support	8%	9%	8%

Q11. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on finding a job or helping you to work more hours or get a better paid job?^{[footnote 3]} Base: all participants wave 1 n=5,002, wave 2 n=4,004, wave 3 n=5,001. The response options “social media” and “AI platforms” were not included in waves 1 and 2 and were added at wave 3.

DWP customers are significantly more likely than all participants to select individual sources. For instance, 43% of DWP customers would use online job and careers websites compared to 41% of all participants who would use this. The exception is “other employers”, which both groups say they would use at similar levels.

Figure 25 Would use for advice and information on finding a job, for help in working more hours or to get a better paid job, among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Source of advice and information	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Online job and careers websites	41%	43%^
Online research or web search	34%	35%^
Recruitment agencies	33%	35%^
My local Jobcentre Plus	30%	34%^
GOV.UK	23%	29%^
Family or friends	24%	28%^
Social media	16%	23%^
National Careers Service	15%	19%^
My employer	15%	16%^
AI platforms	11%	16%^
Other employers	14%	14%
Department for Work and Pensions	9%	14%^
Local council	9%	12%^
Trade union or association	9%	12%^
School or university careers support	8%	10%^
A charity	4%	7%^

Q11. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on finding a job or helping you to work more hours or get a better paid job?^{[footnote 4]} Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and DWP customers.

Sources of information on benefits

In line with wave 1 (when this question was last asked), the source that participants are most likely to use for information on benefits is GOV.UK (61% at both wave 1 and wave 3). This is followed by Citizens Advice (38%) and DWP (36%).

There have been some significant increases in the likelihood to use sources since wave 1. For example, participants are more likely at wave 3 than at wave 1 to use:

• Citizens Advice (38% at wave 3 compared to 36% at wave 1)
• Moneysaving Expert/Martin Lewis (29% at wave 3 compared to 27% at wave 1)
• online research or web search (30% at wave 3 compared to 27% at wave 1)
• family or friends (25% at wave 3 compared to 23% at wave 1)

Figure 26 Would use for advice and information on benefits such as Universal Credit, the State Pension or health and disability benefits, among all participants at waves 1 and 3

Source of advice and information	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 3
GOV.UK	61%	61%
Citizens Advice	36%	38%**
Department for Work and Pensions	30%	31%
Online research or web search	27%	30%**
MoneySavingExpert.com/Martin Lewis	27%	29%**
Family or friends	23%	25%**
My local Jobcentre Plus	14%	15%
AI platforms	Not applicable	13%
Local council	14%	13%
A charity or welfare rights organisation	12%	12%
Social media	Not applicable	11%
My bank, building society or credit union	9%	10%
My employer	9%	8%

Q10. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on benefits such as Universal Credit, the State Pension or health and disability benefits?^{[footnote 5]} Base: all participants wave 1 n=5002, all participants wave 3 n=5,001. ** indicates significant difference between wave 1 and wave 3. The response options “social media” and “AI platforms” were not included in waves 1 and 2 and were added at wave 3.

Like all participants, DWP customers are most likely to use GOV.UK (60%) if they were to need information on benefits, followed by Citizens Advice (39%) and DWP (35%).

DWP customers are significantly more likely than all participants to use most individual sources, with the exception of GOV.UK, Citizens Advice or MoneySavingExpert.com where there is no significant difference.

Figure 27 Would use for advice and information on benefits such as Universal Credit, the State Pension or health and disability benefits, among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Source of advice and information	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
GOV.UK	61%	60%
Citizens Advice	38%	39%
Department for Work and Pensions	31%	35%^
Online research or web search	30%	32%^
Moneysavingexpert.com/Martin Lewis	29%	28%
Family or friends	25%	28%^
My local Jobcentre Plus	15%	19%^
AI platforms	13%	18%^
Social media	11%	18%^
A charity or welfare rights organisation	12%	17%^
Local council	13%	16%^
My bank, building society or credit union	10%	16%^
My employer	8%	11%^

Q10. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on benefits such as Universal Credit, the State Pension or health and disability benefits?^{[footnote 6]} Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and DWP customers.

Likelihood to use most sources for information on benefits among customers is similar to wave 1, with the exception of:

• DWP (32% at wave 1 and 35% at wave 3)
• online search or web search (28% at wave 1 and 32% at wave 3)

Figure 28 Would use for advice and information on benefits such as Universal Credit, the State Pension or health and disability benefits, among DWP customers at waves 1 and 3

Source of advice and information	DWP customers wave 1	DWP customers wave 3
GOV.UK	62%	60%
Citizens Advice	37%	39%
Department for Work and Pensions	32%	35%**
Online research or web search	28%	32%**
Moneysavingexpert.com/Martin Lewis	26%	28%
Family or friends	27%	28%
My local Jobcentre Plus	20%	19%
AI platforms	Not applicable	18%
Charity or welfare rights organisation	16%	17%
Local council	17%	16%
My bank, building society or credit union	14%	16%
My employer	13%	11%**
Social media	Not applicable	18%

Q10. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on benefits such as Universal Credit, the State Pension or health and disability benefits? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001, DWP customers wave 1 n=2,436, wave 3 n=2,323. ** indicates significant difference between wave 1 and wave 3. The response options “social media” and “AI platforms” were not included in waves 1 and 2 and were added at wave 3.

A new question was introduced at wave 3, asking participants what sources they would use for information on skills and development. Around 1 in 3 (34%) would use online research, followed by 1 in 4 (25%) who would use online job and careers websites. Among government sources, around 1 in 5 participants would use GOV.UK (22%), their local Jobcentre Plus (20%) or the National Careers Service (18%). Fewer than one in 10 (8%) would use the DWP.

Figure 29 Would use for advice and information on skills development and training, among all participants at wave 3

Source of advice and information	All participants wave 3
Online research	34%
Online job and careers websites	25%
GOV.UK	22%
School, college or university	22%
My employer	20%
My local Jobcentre Plus	20%
National Careers Service	18%
Family or friends	16%
Recruitment agencies	15%
Social media	13%
AI platforms	13%
Trade union or association	11%
Department for Work and Pensions	8%
Local council	8%
Other employers	7%
A charity	5%

Q43. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on skills development and training? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5001.

For most sources, DWP customers are statistically significantly more likely than all participants to select each source of support listed, other than online research or web search, sources related to employment or education (my employer, other employers, school, college or university), local council or a charity.

Figure 30 Would use for advice and information on skills development and training, among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Source of advice or information	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Online research or web search	34%	36%
GOV.UK	22%	29%^
Online job and careers websites	25%	28%^
My local Jobcentre Plus	20%	26%^
School, college or university	22%	22%
National Careers Service	18%	22%^
My employer	20%	21%
Family or friends	16%	20%^
Recruitment agencies	15%	19%^
Social media	13%	19%^
AI platforms	13%	18%^
Trade union or association	11%	14%^
Department for Work and Pensions	8%	13%^
Local council	8%	11%
Other employers	7%	8%
A charity	5%	7%

Q43. Which, if any, of these sources would you use for advice and information on skills development and training? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5001, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and DWP customers.

Confidence in receiving support from DWP

Just under half (48%) of all participants would feel confident DWP would provide helpful support. This is slightly higher than the proportion who feel confident JCP could provide them with helpful support (45% at all waves).

There was a slight but significant decrease in the proportion confident that DWP could provide helpful support at wave 2 (48%, from 50% at wave 1). This small drop has been sustained at wave 3. Confidence that JCP could provide helpful support has remained consistent at 45% across all waves.

Figure 31 Would feel fairly or very confident that DWP/JCP could provide helpful support if needed, among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Organisation	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
DWP	50%	48%**	48%**
JCP	45%	45%	45%

Q23. How confident, if at all, would you feel that each of the following could provide you with helpful support if you needed it? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5002, all participants wave 2 n=4004, all participants wave 3 n=5001. * Indicates significant difference between wave 2 and wave 3, ** indicates significant difference from wave 1.

DWP customers are more likely than all participants to feel confident that either DWP or JCP could provide them with helpful support. Like all participants, DWP customers are more likely to be confident that DWP, rather than JCP, could provide them with helpful support. Just under 3 in 5 of DWP customers (58%) are confident that DWP could provide them with helpful support compared to 53% who are confident JCP could provide this.

Figure 32 Would feel confident that DWP/JCP could provide helpful support if needed, among all participants and DWP customers at wave 3

Organisation	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
DWP	48%	58%^
JCP	45%	53%^

Q23. How confident, if at all, would you feel that each of the following could provide you with helpful support if you needed it? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5001, DWP customers n=2,323. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and DWP customers.

Barriers to confidence in receiving support from DWP

The top reasons for not being confident in receiving helpful support from DWP or JCP are:

• not having had to ask for this sort of support before (25%)
• having heard from others that they are not helpful (22%)
• perceptions of JCP having an unwelcoming environment (21%)
• a previous bad experience (20%) and thinking that DWP or JCP are not capable of providing helpful support (20%)

Figure 33 Barriers to confidence in being provided with helpful support from DWP or JCP, among all participants not confident, at wave 3

Barrier	All participants wave 3
Never had to ask for support like this before	25%
Heard that they are not helpful from others	22%
JCP office is unwelcoming environment	21%
Had a bad experience before	20%
Do not think they are capable of providing useful help	20%
Uncomfortable going to JCP	19%
Do not trust staff to give accurate information	17%
Not for people like me	16%
Do not think the staff would help me	14%
Don’t know what information I would need	13%
Do not think I would be treated fairly	13%
JCP support is only for people claiming benefits	10%
Had bad experience with other gov/official org	8%

Q24 You said that you would not feel confident that you would be provided with helpful support from DWP/JCP. Why is that? Base: all those among all participants not confident at Q23 that they would receive helpful support from DWP/JCP wave 3 n=2,516.

DWP customers are most likely to lack confidence that DWP or JCP could provide helpful support due to having previously had a bad experience (29%), perceiving that JCP’s office is an unwelcoming environment (25%), thinking that DWP or JCP are not capable of providing useful help (23%) or lacking trust that staff will provide accurate information (22%).

DWP customers are significantly more likely than all participants to cite these reasons, and less likely to select “don’t know” (4% compared to 7% of all participants). This is in line with previous findings showing DWP customers are more likely to have an opinion on DWP or JCP than all participants.

Figure 34 Barriers to confidence in being provided with helpful support from DWP or JCP, among all participants and DWP customers not confident, at wave 3

Barrier	All participants wave 3	DWP customers wave 3
Had a bad experience before	20%	29%^
JCP office is unwelcoming environment	21%	25%^
Do not think they are capable of providing useful help	20%	23%^
Do not trust staff to give accurate information	17%	22%^
Heard that they are not helpful from others	22%	21%
Never had to ask for support like this before	25%^	18%
Uncomfortable going to JCP	19%	18%
Do not think I would be treated fairly	13%	18%^
Do not think the staff would help me	14%	16%^
Not for people like me	16%^	13%
JCP support is only for people claiming benefits	10%	12%^
Had bad experience with other gov/official org	8%	12%^
Don’t know what information I would need	13%^	11%

Q24 You said that you would not feel confident that you would be provided with helpful support from DWP/JCP. Why is that? Base: all participants not confident at Q23 that they would receive helpful support from DWP/JCP wave 3 n=2,516, all those among DWP customers not confident at Q23 that they would receive helpful support from DWP/JCP wave 3 n=1,126. ^ indicates a significant difference between all participants and DWP customers.

Perceptions of DWP staff

Most DWP customers agree that the DWP, JCP and UC staff they had dealt with met standards of customer service. Levels of agreement are broadly consistent across all waves, with significant increases since wave 1 in the proportion who agree that staff:

• handle requests professionally (wave 1, 69% compared to 70% at wave 2 and 72% at wave 3)
• provide accurate information (wave 1, 67% compared to 69% at wave 2 and 70% at wave 3)

As seen in previous waves, DWP customers are less likely to agree that staff understand their needs (59% at all waves) than they are to agree that they deliver other aspects of customer service.

Figure 35 Strongly or tends to agree that DWP, JCP and UC staff provide aspect of customer service, among DWP customers at waves 1, 2 and 3

Perception of DWP staff	DWP customers wave 1	DWP customers wave 2	DWP customers wave 3
My requests are handled professionally	69%	70%	72%**
They provide accurate information	67%	69%	70%**
They treat me with respect	68%	71%	69%
They are friendly and approachable	67%	67%	68%
They do what they say they will	64%	65%	64%
They are knowledgeable about my issue/s	62%	64%	62%
They understand my needs	59%	59%	59%

Q22. Thinking about the Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus and Universal Credit staff you have dealt with, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? This could have been advice or support for you or someone else. Base: DWP customers wave 1 n=2,436, DWP customers wave 2 n= 1,706, DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. * indicates significant difference between wave 2 and wave 3, ** indicates significant difference from wave 1.

Participants who were not DWP customers (non-DWP customers) were asked how they think JCP staff would respond should they contact JCP. Around 2 in 3 non-DWP customers think JCP would provide accurate information (65%), treat them with respect (64%) and handle their request professionally (65%). However, just over half (51%) thought JCP would be likely to understand their needs.

Expectations are broadly consistent across the 3 waves. This is with the exception of “treat you with respect”, which slightly returned to wave 1 levels (64% compared to 63% in wave 1) after an increase at wave 2 (66%).

Figure 36 Think JCP is likely to provide aspect of customer service, among DWP non-customers at waves 1, 2 and 3

Perception of DWP	Non-DWP customers wave 1	Non-DWP customers wave 2	Non-DWP customers wave 3
Provide accurate information	65%	67%	65%
Treat you with respect	63%	66%**	64%
Handle your request professionally	64%	65%	65%
Understand your needs	51%	52%	51%

Q22A. If you were to contact Jobcentre Plus, how likely or unlikely do you think they would be to…? Base: all those who are not DWP customers wave 1 n= 2,566, wave 2 n=2,298, wave 3 n=2,678. * indicates significant difference between wave 2 and wave 3, ** indicates significant difference from wave 1.

DWP support for key groups

This chapter looks at perceptions of the amount of support provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to key groups who may have specific needs.

Views of DWP support at wave 3

Between 25% and 35% of all participants think that DWP provides about the right amount of support to specific groups. They are most likely to think that DWP provides about the right amount of support to:

• working-age people who are out of work, to help get them back into work (35%)
• people in work and out of work, looking to develop their skills (33%)
• people of State Pension age (33%)

Participants are most likely to think that DWP does not provide enough support to:

• people over 50 who are not in work (36%)
• people out of work or working a few hours due to disability or ill-health (32%)
• young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) (32%)

As seen in waves 1 and 2, a notable proportion say they do not know if enough support is provided to specific groups. At wave 3, this ranges from 28% (who say they don’t know if enough support is provided to working-age people who are out of work to help them get back to work) to 40% (who say people in higher skilled roles who want to change jobs). These proportions are similar to those seen at waves 1 and 2.

Figure 37 Thinks DWP provides not enough, too much or about the right amount of support to specific groups, among all participants at wave 3

Perception of DWP	Not enough support	About the right amount of support	Too much support	Don’t know
Working age people, out of work, to help them get back into work	30%	35%	6%	28%
People in and out of work, looking to develop their work-related skills	27%	33%	5%	34%
People of State Pension age, through the State Pension and benefits	30%	33%	6%	29%
People, not working or working few hours, through benefits	25%	32%	11%	31%
People in work, through careers advice to help them increase their earnings	26%	31%	6%	36%
People who are working few hours, to increase their hours	27%	30%	6%	36%
People out of work/working few hours due to disability or ill health	32%	30%	8%	29%
Young people 16 to 24 who are NEET	32%	30%	7%	31%
People in higher skilled roles who want to change jobs	25%	28%	6%	40%
Single parents	28%	27%	9%	35%
People over 50 who are not in work	36%	25%	6%	32%

Q25. Do you think the Department for Work and Pensions provides too much, the right amount or not enough support for each of these groups? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5,001.

Views of DWP support across waves

Views of support provided for most groups has remained consistent among participants across the 3 waves, with around 1 in 3 saying they “don’t know” if enough support is provided. Where there are changes, these are small. For example, the proportion thinking not enough support is provided to 16 to 24s who are NEET increased significantly but slightly from wave 1 to wave 2 (wave 1, 30%, wave 2, 33%) and this increase has continued at wave 3 (32%).

Figure 38 Thinks DWP does not provide enough support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are NEET, among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Perception of DWP	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Not enough support provided to young people 16 to 24 who are NEET	30%	33%**	32%**

Q25. Do you think the Department for Work and Pensions provides too much, the right amount or not enough support for each of these groups? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5002, wave 2 n= 4,004, wave 3 n=5001. * indicates significant difference between wave 2 and wave 3, ** indicates significant difference from wave 1.

Similarly, the proportion of participants who think that DWP does not provide enough support to people out of work due to disability or ill health rose from 34% in wave 1 to 36% in wave 2, a small but statistically significant increase. At wave 3, this proportion fell to 32%, which is significantly below the wave 1 level.  

At wave 3, 30% of participants also think that DWP does not provide enough support to people of State Pension age. This has decreased significantly from 32% at wave 2, returning to wave 1 levels (31%).

Figure 39 Thinks DWP does not provide enough support to specific groups, among all participants at waves 1, 2 and 3

Perception of DWP	All participants wave 1	All participants wave 2	All participants wave 3
Not enough support provided to people out of work/working few hours due to disability or ill health	34%	36%**	32%* **
Not enough support provided to people of SP age, through the SP and benefits	31%	32%**	30%*

Q25. Do you think the Department for Work and Pensions provides too much, the right amount or not enough support for each of these groups? Base: all participants wave 1 n=5002, wave 2 n= 4,004, wave 3 n=5001. * indicates significant difference between wave 2 and wave 3, ** indicates significant difference from wave 1.

Wave 3 specific questions: JCP’s offices, PIP eligibility, accuracy of benefit payments versus asking for more personal data

This chapter looks at 3 questions added specifically for wave 3: perceptions among Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) customers of the physical environment of Jobcentre Plus (JCP) offices, knowledge of the eligibility requirements of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the trade-off between paying benefits accurately and collecting more personal data when making benefit payments.

Satisfaction with JCP offices

To identify people who had experience of JCP offices, the questionnaire asked DWP customers if they had visited a JCP office in the last year. Approximately 1 in 3 (32%) said they had.

Figure 40 Has been to a Jobcentre Plus office in the last year, among DWP customers at wave 3

Has been to a Jobcentre Plus office in the last year	Yes	No
DWP customers wave 3	32%	64%
General population	15%	85%

Q44. Have you been to a Jobcentre Plus office in the last year? Base: DWP customers wave 3, n=2,323.

Of those DWP customers who had visited a JCP office in the last year, most were satisfied with the physical environment of the office: 73% were satisfied (37% were very satisfied and 36% were fairly satisfied). Around 1 in 8 (13%) were dissatisfied (8% were fairly dissatisfied and 5% were very dissatisfied).

Figure 41 Satisfaction with physical environment of JCP office, among DWP customers who have visited a JCP office in the last year at wave 3

Response	Percentage
Very satisfied	37%
Fairly satisfied	36%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	13%
Fairly dissatisfied	8%
Very dissatisfied	5%
Don’t know	1%

Q45. Thinking about your most recent visit to a Jobcentre Plus office, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the physical environment? By physical environment, we mean things like layout, noise levels, lighting, facilities, heating/ventilation and decoration. Base: DWP customers who have visited a JCP office in the last year n=740.

When looking at customers who may have specific needs (that is, parents with children under 16, carers and people receiving health-related benefits) the proportion who are satisfied is significantly higher than among all JCP visitors. Around 4 in 5 parents with children under 16 (82%), people receiving disability or health-related benefits (81%) and carers (80%) were satisfied with the physical environment of the JCP office they most recently visited, compared with around 3 in 4 (73%) of all JCP visitors.

Figure 42 Satisfied with the physical environment of JCP office, among all visitors and groups of special interest

visitor or group of special interest	Very or fairly satisfied
All JCP visitors	73%
Parents of under 16s	82%^
Receives disability/health related benefit	81%^
Carers	80%^

Q45. Thinking about your most recent visit to a Jobcentre Plus office, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the physical environment? Base: DWP customers who have visited a JCP office in the last year: all JCP visitors n=740, parents of under 16s n=424, receives disability/health related benefit n=154, carers n=305. ^ indicates significant difference between all JCP visitors and subgroup.

Knowledge of PIP eligibility

To test knowledge of PIP eligibility, participants were shown statements about the eligibility criteria for PIP. Some statements were true and some were false^{[footnote 7]}.

Among all participants, around 2 in 3 (65%) know that PIP eligibility is related to having a disability or health condition that impacts a person’s ability to do everyday tasks. However, over half incorrectly think that eligibility is related to a person’s ability to work (56%).

The majority of participants are either incorrect or do not know the correct answer for the other criteria asked. For instance, 56% incorrectly think an individual must have a disability that impacts their ability to work to be eligible and 2 in 5 (40%) don’t know whether an individual must be under State Pension age to qualify.

Figure 43 Correctly or incorrectly identifies eligibility criteria of PIP, among all participants at wave 3

Statement about eligibility criteria for PIP	Answered correctly	Answered incorrectly	Don’t know
An individual must have a disability or health condition that impacts their ability to do everyday tasks to be eligible (true)	65%	12%	23%
Individuals in paid work are not eligible for PIP (false)	47%	18%	35%
Eligibility for PIP is determined by the person’s income (false)	41%	26%	32%
An individual must be under State Pension age to qualify (true)	39%	21%	40%
An individual must have a disability or health condition that impacts their ability to work to be eligible (false)	19%	56%	24%

Q46. Here are some true and false statements about eligibility criteria for PIP. For each statement, determine if it is true or false. Base: all participants wave 3 n=5002. Statements are followed by information in brackets saying whether the statement is true or false.

Across most eligibility criteria, DWP customers are more likely to express an opinion (right or wrong) compared to all participants. For instance, 17% don’t know whether “individuals must have a condition that impacts their ability to work” is true or false (compared with 24% among all participants). DWP customers are also more likely to (correctly) identify this statement as false (23% compared with 19%) but also to (incorrectly) think this statement is true (59% compared with 56%) compared with all participants.

Figure 44 Correctly or incorrectly identifies eligibility criteria of PIP, among DWP customers at wave 3

Statement about eligibility criteria for PIP	Answered correctly	Answered incorrectly	Don’t know
Individuals must have disability/health condition that impacts their ability to do everyday tasks to be eligible (true)	69%^	15%^	16%^
Individuals in paid work are not eligible for PIP (false)	49%^	25%^	26%^
An individual must be under State Pension age to qualify (true)	47%^	23%^	30%^
Eligibility for PIP is determined by the person’s income (false)	46%^	31%^	23%^
An individual must have a disability or health condition that impacts their ability to work to be eligible (false)	23%^	59%^	17%^

Q46. Here are some true and false statements about eligibility criteria for PIP. For each statement, determine if it is true or false. Base: DWP customers wave 3 n=2,323. Statements are followed by information in brackets saying whether the statement is true or false. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and DWP customers.

Among people who have a disability or health condition, knowledge is again slightly higher than among all participants or DWP customers, with fewer selecting “don’t know” and more answering correctly. For example, 74% correctly identify that having a disability or health condition that affects a person’s ability to do everyday tasks is an eligibility requirement (compared to 65% among all participants). A quarter didn’t know whether individuals in paid work are eligible for PIP (26%), compared with a third among all participants (35%). However, more people with a disability compared to all participants incorrectly think that an individual must have a health condition that impacts their ability to work to be eligible (61% of those with a disability compared with 56% among all participants).

Figure 45 Correctly or incorrectly identifies eligibility criteria of PIP, among people with a disability or a long-term health condition at wave 3

Statement about eligibility criteria for PIP	Answered correctly	Answered incorrectly	Don’t know
Individuals must have disability/health condition that impacts their ability to do everyday tasks to be eligible (true)	74%^	10%	17%^
Individuals in paid work are not eligible for PIP (false)	53%^	20%^	26%^
Eligibility for PIP is determined by the person’s income (false)	51%^	23%	26%^
An individual must be under State Pension age to qualify (true)	45%^	23%^	32%^
An individual must have a disability or health condition that impacts their ability to work to be eligible (false)	21%^	61%^	18%^

Q46. Here are some true and false statements about eligibility criteria for PIP. For each statement, determine if it is true or false. Base: people with a disability or long-term health condition n=521. Statements are followed by information in brackets saying whether the statement is true or false. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and people with a disability or long-term health condition.

PIP claimants are the best informed about PIP eligibility, with 83% correctly identifying that eligibility is related to having a condition that affects the ability to do everyday tasks (compared to 65% of all participants and 74% of those with a health condition or disability). However, there are still notable proportions who select incorrect statements about eligibility:

• only 1 in 3 (33%) correctly identify that the statement ‘PIP eligibility is related to a person’s ability to work’ is false. 59% of PIP claimants believe this is true (compared to 56% of all participants)
• a quarter incorrectly think eligibility is determined by income (25% compared with 26% of all participants) and also incorrectly think those above State Pension age can claim PIP (23% compared with 21%)
• consistent with these misconceptions about work status and eligibility, 1 in 5 incorrectly think that people in paid work are not eligible for PIP (20%, compared with 18% of all participants)

Figure 46 Correctly or incorrectly identifies eligibility criteria of PIP, among people claiming PIP

Statement about eligibility criteria for PIP	Answered correctly	Answered incorrectly	Don’t know
Individuals must have disability/health condition that impacts their ability to do everyday tasks to be eligible (true)	83%^	9%	8%^
Individuals in paid work are not eligible for PIP (false)	67%^	20%	13%^
Eligibility for PIP is determined by the person’s income (false)	66%^	25%	9%^
An individual must be under State Pension age to qualify (true)	55%^	23%	21%^
An individual must have a disability or health condition that impacts their ability to work to be eligible (false)	33%^	59%	7%^

Q46. Here are some true and false statements about eligibility criteria for PIP. For each statement, determine if it is true or false. Base: people claiming PIP n=324. Statements are followed by information in brackets saying whether the statement is true or false. ^ indicates significant difference between all participants and people claiming PIP.

Balancing paying benefit payments accurately with asking for more personal data

Participants were asked which of 2 scenarios about collecting personal data and payment benefits accurately they would prioritise.

7 in 10 participants say it is more important to pay benefit payments accurately even if that means collecting more personal data. 1 in 7 (14%) say it is more important to limit the amount of personal data collected even if that means that some benefit claimants may be paid more or less than they are entitled to. The remaining 16% say they don’t know.

Figure 47 Importance of accuracy of benefit payments compared to limiting collection of personal data, among all participants at wave 3

Response	Percentage
It is more important to prioritise paying accurate benefit payments even if this means collecting additional personal data	70%
It is more important to limit personal data collection, even if this means some claimants may be paid more or less in benefits	14%
Don’t know	16%

Q47. The DWP aims to ensure that claimants are paid the correct amount in benefits based on their circumstances. How do you feel about the balance between providing personal information and the risks of DWP making incorrect payments due to lack of information? Base: all participants wave 3 n=5001.

Benefit recipients, people from lower socio-economic groups^{[footnote 8]} and younger people are less likely than all participants to want DWP to prioritise paying accurate benefits even if that meant collecting additional personal data:

• 72% of those not receiving any DWP benefit compared with 65% of those receiving 1 or more DWP benefits
• 72% of ABC1s (higher socio-economic grade) compared with 67% of C2DEs (lower social-economic grade)
• 77% of 55 to 64s compared to 54% of 16 to 24s

Conclusions

This third wave of research shows that awareness, knowledge and trust in DWP and JCP have remained broadly stable compared with waves 1 and 2. Any indications of small changes observed at wave 2 have largely settled back to wave 1 levels.

Brand awareness of DWP and JCP remains high, but understanding of DWP and JCP’s roles and responsibilities continues to be shallow: many people hold neutral views or say they are unsure what they think of them.

Compared with all participants, DWP customers hold stronger views at both ends of the spectrum. This suggests that, on balance, direct exposure is associated with greater strength of opinion, both positive and negative. This finding that there is a relationship between experience of DWP and positive perceptions has been sustained across the 3 waves.

Views on the adequacy of support for different groups are broadly consistent with earlier waves: many feel more support is needed for several groups, though a similarly large proportion are unsure.

When seeking advice on training, jobs or benefits there is no single preferred source of information. People draw on multiple channels, with online research and GOV.UK the main sources, and JCP featuring more as a source for skills and training. However, among government sources of support for searching for a job, JCP is top.

On matching people with jobs, around half of participants trust DWP to support people into suitable roles. DWP customers are significantly more likely than all participants to trust JCP to support people to find jobs with good quality employers.

Most DWP customers who have visited a JCP office are satisfied with its physical environment. Satisfaction is higher among customers who may have specific access needs.

Understanding of PIP is partial. While many recognise that eligibility relates to difficulties with performing everyday tasks, there is uncertainty about other eligibility criteria. Notable numbers of people with health conditions or disabilities, and those receiving PIP also misunderstand some of the eligibility criteria.

When considering the accuracy of benefit payments compared to limiting the collection of personal data, most participants say it is more important to pay benefit payments accurately even if that means collecting more personal data.

1. In waves 1 and 3, DWP customers included individuals who only used UC and not DWP or JCP as well. In wave 2, DWP customers are defined slightly differently due to the removal of questions regarding UC. ↩

2. Participants were asked: Which, if any, of the following best describes your experience with each of these in the last year? (a) Department for Work and Pensions, (b) Jobcentre Plus and (c) Universal Credit. For each, participants could select one answer from: (i) I have used this for myself or someone in my family or household, (ii) I have helped someone else use this, such as a friend or relative, (iii) I have used this as an employer or part of my business (such as to fill a vacancy or help one of my employees) [for (a) only], (iv) I have used this in a professional capacity or as a volunteer with an organisation, such as to help someone get benefits advice, (v) None of these, I have not used this at all in the last year, (vi) Don’t know, (vii) Prefer not to say. ↩

3. Note, the full wording of “Online research” changed slightly from wave 2 to wave 3 and 2 new answers were added. At wave 2, the full response to “Online research” was “Online research, including social media, chat rooms, Google or other search engines.” At wave 3, this was changed to “Online research / web search, including Google or other search engines.’” New codes were added for: “Social media, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Co-pilot and Gemini.” ↩

4. Note, the full wording of “Online research” changed slightly from wave 2 to wave 3 and 2 new answers were added. At wave 2, the full response to Online research was “Online research, including social media, chat rooms, Google or other search engines”. At wave 3, this was changed to “Online research / web search, including Google or other search engines”. New codes were added for: “Social media, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and ‘AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Co-pilot and Gemini.” ↩

5. Note, the full wording of “Online research” changed slightly from wave 1 to wave 3 and 2 new answers were added. At wave 1, the full response to Online research was “Online research, including social media, chat rooms, Google or other search engines”. At wave 3, this was changed to “Online research / web search, including Google or other search engines”. New codes were added for: “Social media, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Co-pilot and Gemini.” ↩

6. Note, the full wording of “Online research” changed slightly from wave 1 to wave 3, and 2 new answers were added. At wave 1, the full response to “Online research” was “Online research, including social media, chat rooms, Google or other search engines”. At wave 3, this was changed to “Online research/web search, including Google or other search engines”. New codes were added for: “Social media, e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Co-pilot and Gemini”. ↩

7. For each statement, participants were asked if they thought it was true or false or if they did not know. Figures 43 to 46 show the proportions of participants who identified statements correctly, incorrectly or did not know. Figure 43 shows the results for all participants and Figures 44 to 46 show results for subgroups. Shown in brackets after each statement is whether the statement is true or false. ↩

8. Participants are asked “What is the occupation of the person with the highest income in your household? This is the person with the highest income, which could be from employment, pensions, state benefits, investments or other sources. If this person is retired or unemployed, please indicate the category closest to their most recent occupation.” From this, participants’ socio-economic grade is derived. ↩