Take Up Your Cross

Mark 8:31-3

Housing benefit: slow on the take-up?

Housing benefit (HB) plays a pivotal dual role within both the income maintenance system for the UK and in terms subsidising housing for lower income households. But as a means-tested benefit open to both social and private tenants, it has significantly less than 100% take-up on both caseload (eligible tenants) and expenditure levels. Estimates suggest that £2.5 billion is unclaimed annually. This paper sets out how the HB system works and sets the argument in the context of the fundamental welfare reforms introduced and underway since 2010. The paper examines the literature on take-up and recent data on HB take-up before exploring the possible policy responses that might address the shortfall

Interventions to increase free school meal take-up

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to design and implement interventions to increase free school meal (FSM) uptake in pilot schools. This paper describes the interventions, reports on acceptability (as perceived by school working parties) and explores the process of implementing change. Design/methodology/approach: The research consisted of two phases, an exploratory phase followed by an intervention phase. Findings from the latter are presented. Ten pilot schools (five primary and five secondary) in Leeds, England were recruited. Each established a working party, examined current claiming processes and implemented individualised action plans. This paper draws on the final action plans and interviews/focus groups with working parties. Findings: Interventions to improve FSM claiming process, minimise discrimination and maximise awareness were designed. The majority were implemented successfully, the exception being amending anti-bullying policies. Creative ways of delivering interventions were demonstrated. The process of change was effective, critical factors being having individualised action plans that allowed flexibility in implementation, reflecting on current claiming processes, and setting up working parties. Practical implications: Ways of working with schools to increase FSM uptake and more generally improve nutritional policies are suggested. Amending claiming systems in schools is recommended as is greater pupil and parent involvement in nutrition policies. Originality/value: An estimated 300,000 UK children do not take FSMs they are entitled to – with many schools unaware of the issue. This study worked with schools to discover how to address this issue and evaluated the perceived acceptability and feasibility of the approach

PenDraw - A Language for Improving Take-Up of SVG

The case is presented for preferring a dedicated Computer Graphics (CG) language to the traditional conventional language plus add-on. PenDraw is presented as an existing language that overcomes many problems of CG add-ons, providing compile-time checking and reduced need for run-time debugging. PenDraw produces well-formed SVG. Evidence is given that PenDraw decreases development costs. Evidence is presented that PenDraw has brought CG programming to a wider ability range of potential users than professional programmers. It is argued that, given its qualities, PenDraw should be able to improve the take-up of CG programming. Such take-up is expected to be slow at first, given the market-place focus on interactivity and 3D. But it is believed that PenDraw's expressive power and cost benefits should lead to growth in its use, and in use of SVG

A new targeting - a new take-up? : non-take-up of social assistance in Germany after social policy reforms

"We present first estimates of rates of non-take-up for social assistance in Germany after the implementation of major social policy reforms in 2005. The analysis is based on a microsimulation model, which includes a detailed description of the German social assistance programme. Our findings suggest a moderate decrease in non-take-up compared to estimates before the reform. In order to identify the determinants of claiming social assistance, we estimate a model of take-up behaviour which considers potential endogeneity of the benefit level. The estimations reveal that the degree of needs, measured as the social assistance benefit level a household is eligible for, and the expected duration of eligibility are the key determinants of the take-up decision, while costs of claiming seem to play a minor role." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Hartz-Reform - Auswirkungen, Sozialleistungen - Inanspruchnahme, Grundsicherung nach SGB II, Grundsicherung nach SGB XII, Leistungsempfänger - Quote, Leistungsanspruch, Leistungshöhe, Leistungsbezug - Dauer, Anspruchsvoraussetzung

Low Take-up Rates: The Role of Information

This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the role of information in determining take-up patterns of social benefits in a non-stigma environment. We find that take-up rate of households who have the incentive to search for information for a longer period of time is between 8 and 13 percentage points higher as compared to a control group of households. This result is robust to the inclusion of various household characteristics. Our finding provides strong empirical support for information as an important explanation for low take-up rates.take-up, social benefits, information cost

Assessing a New Clue to How Much Carbon Plants Take Up

Current climate models disagree on how much carbon dioxide land ecosystems take up for photosynthesis. Tracking the stronger carbonyl sulfide signal could help

SSI for the Aged and the Problem of 'Take-Up'

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides an income and health care safety net for the elderly poor. The phenomenon of apparently eligible households that do not enroll in, or 'take up' SSI has been noted as a severe problem since the program's inception in 1974. This paper examines SSI eligibility, applications, and participation in the aged population from 1984 (the most recent year analyzed in the literature to date) through 1997. We are fortunate to have administrative data on SSI use that is linked to various panels of the SIPP. We use this information to estimate the SSI-aged application choice. The key findings from the earlier literature are sensitive with respect to exact sample specification, alternative approaches to imputing the expected SSI benefit, and more detailed information on application and receipt culled from administrative files. Our findings suggest that cash benefits may be less influential, and Medicaid access through SSI more influential, than previously estimated.

Public Health Insurance, Program Take-Up, and Child Health

Of the ten million uninsured children in 1996, nearly half were eligible for Medicaid, the public health insurance program for poor families, but not enrolled. In response, policy efforts to improve coverage have shifted to increasing Medicaid take-up among those already eligible rather than expanding eligibility. However, little is known about the reasons poor families fail to use public programs or the consequences of failing to enroll. The latter is of particular relevance to Medicaid given that children are typically enrolled when they become sufficiently sick as to require hospitalization. Using new data on Medicaid outreach, enrollment and child hospitalizations in California, I find that information and administrative costs are important barriers to program enrollment, with the latter particularly true for Hispanic and Asian families. In addition, enrolling children in Medicaid before they get sick promotes the use of preventative care, reduces the need for hospitalization and improves health.