Today, Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) produced a new briefing in collaboration with Amnesty International on the barriers Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities face when accessing social security, despite legal protections under UK law, including the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010.
The briefing, which forms part of Amnesty International’s Social Insecurity report, examines the real-world difficulties of trying to access support from the social security (benefits) system as a Romany Gypsy, Roma, or Traveller person, and explores the knock-on effects of existing inequalities on social security, health, work, educations, and living standards.
The briefing explores:
- High levels of economic exclusion and deprivation;
- Low accessibility of social security;
- Difficulties in accessing an adequate standard of living;
- A case study of an Irish Traveller person’s experience of seeking social security support.
…After the council sent Michael an eviction notice, his FFT caseworker found his UC had been wrongly deducted for having two non-dependents living with him–despite Michael living alone for 9 months.
In closing, the briefing makes a series of recommendations, including:
- The Government should review and improve measures to ensure social security is equally accessible for people with low/no literacy and/or digital literacy, and/or without a fixed address.
- Future planning for government and public services’ further utilisation of technology and artificial intelligence must take into account the impacts of digital exclusion, especially where this intersects with protected characteristics.
- The Government should abolish the two-child limit and benefit cap.
- The Department for Work and Pensions should review the housing benefit element of Universal Credit, to accommodate for the extra financial costs associated with living on Gypsy and Traveller sites.
- The Government should implement a review into fuel poverty and energy access on Gypsy and Traveller sites, and plan for provision to reduce energy access inequalities.
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About Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT)
Friends, Families and Travellers is a leading national charity that works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life.
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Additional Resources
‘Joint briefing: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and the right to social security’. Friends, Families and Travellers and Amnesty International UK. April 2025. View briefing.
‘Social Insecurity Report’. Amnesty International UK. April 2025. View report.
