our national work linksUK
Connecting people to work and benefits
Community Links has 30 years experience of working with people excluded from work and benefits. Over time working patterns have changed and the outdated system has failed to keep pace. Numerous amendments and changes to the UK benefits, tax credits and tax systems, has resulted in a complex system which is difficult to administer. This confusing system can fail the vulnerable claimants it is designed to support. At linksUK we base our research on understanding the day to day engagement with people seeking advice. We draw on the knowledge of Community Links advice team.
There remain significant numbers of people for whom finding and keeping work is still a distant ambition. The benefits trap is well documented and our recent work has focused on people working informally earning money cash-in-hand out of "Need not Greed" and those who want to contribute to their communities through voluntary work but are prevented from doing so.
We are committed to tackling the causes and consequences of exclusion from work and benefits, including child poverty, and have produced evidence and policy recommendations, alongside a programme of campaigning for change, to support these aims.