Dr. Karina Doorley:

On the subject of universal child benefit, there is a case for it. All means-tested benefits have a take-up issue. This means that if the rules of a particular benefit are opaque or something like that, then there will not be full take up. Not everyone eligible will actually apply for it.

Sometimes there is as stigma associated with means-tested benefits as well. Households feel like it is not for them or do not want to be claiming that. There is an issue when you means-test something, where not everybody who is entitled to a benefit will take it up. Sometimes the households that do not take it up might be those that are the most vulnerable because the administrative burden for them to apply is quite high and they do not have the capacity. There is still a case for a universal child benefit. One of the things that came out of some research we did over the financial crisis was the fact child benefit is systematically paid to the mother actually reduced the gender discrepancy in how policy affected men and women over time because that child benefit acted as a buffer to women's income. There are a number of reasons why we might want to keep a universal payment and add a means-tested payment.