Social Security Experience Panels: benefit take-up – visual summary

The combination of many barriers

At the end of the focus group sessions, we asked participants what was the most significant barrier they had faced.

Some participants spoke about the fear and the courage that was needed to approach and challenge the Government. Others spoke about application forms and assessments. Stigma from other people and society were also mentioned.

However, many participants said there was not one single barrier that had impacted them more than others. They suggested that there were combination of many barriers which had stopped or delayed them from accessing benefits.

It was felt that these barriers ‘piled on top’ of each other. Participants said that Social Security Scotland needed to address all of these different barriers at the same time.

“There are moments where it all piles on top of you. It’s not a single thing but it’s the fact that you have multiple factors. It feels like something else comes to shut you down when you’ve gone through a barrier.”