Debt is a whip in modern slavery

Debt is a whip in modern slavery

The whole point of the minimum six-weeks waiting period in the Universal Credit claiming process is to diminish claimant bargaining power. The fact that the first 7 days' money related to the claim is written off in the sense that the claimant is denied it compounds this fact, as does the fact that 'Short-term-benefit advance' (S.T.B.A.) is a repayable loand deducted at source.