It was introduced into the House of Commons on 9 July 2015 by Iain Duncan Smith and received Royal assent in March 2016.

The Act implements policies that were contained in both the Conservative Party manifesto ahead of the 2015 general election as well as statements made in the July 2015 budget.

[1] Among other measures that Act represents the Government's attempts to increase employment, curb the welfare budget, reduce child poverty and support working households.

[2] Many people have criticised the bill, with some even going as far as to defining it as a "Pandora's box for Britain's poorest families".

[11] The cuts to tax credits have been criticised for unfairly affecting the working poor, and a clause in the bill allows the benefits cap of £20,000 (£23,000 in London) to be reduced further, without any further consultation with Parliament (apart from the passage of the act through parliament), thus making those from larger families even worse off.