by
John Hills
- they can act as disincentive to additional earnings;
- they can give an incentive to behaviour that reduces reported income (including misreporting of circumstances to slip below particular thresholds);
- they can lead to feelings of injustice, if those just below a threshold are treated much more favourably than those who are only slightly better off;
- uncertainty about which side of a threshold someone will fall once all the calculations are done can add to barriers to access.
this section is specifically about students but those caveats apply generally