[Employment-related benefit system in the UK]

Statutory Sick Pay, Jobseeker's Allowance, and Employment and Support Allowance are employment-related benefits in the United Kingdom (UK). They correspond to the Injury and Disease Allowance and Unemployment Insurance in Japan. The Government of the UK is determined to reform the benefit system to make it fairer and to improve financial work incentives, using the slogan "Welfare to Work". Against this background, the government of the UK united some non-contributory benefits into a new "Universal Credit" scheme, which started in April 2013. The labor policy was also reformed to improve work incentives, for example by abolishing the Flexible New Deal program and uniting all the "Welfare to Work" policies into the "Work Programme". These reforms are useful for reconsidering the labor and employment-related policy and benefit system of Japan.