The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
Benefits
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04/01/2013
Support for benefit cuts ‘linked to ignorance’
Trade unions are warning the government not to count on continuing voter support for capping benefit rises. A new poll commissioned by the TUC has found that those people least able to give accurate answers to basic questions about benefits are the most likely to back cuts. Once people are made aware of the full facts, support for cuts drops significantly.
The YouGov poll found widespread ignorance about benefits:
Category: News stories -
18/12/2012
Bill to encourage ‘responsible’ spending by claimants
Legislation is being proposed that would force claimants to use benefit money for 'responsible' spending only. The Conservative MP behind the Welfare Cash Card Bill, Alec Shelbrooke, is acting in a personal capacity – although he also serves as a junior government minister.
Under the Bill, a 'welfare cash card' would be introduced to replace cash payments for most benefits. The card would allow claimants to make only priority purchases such as food, clothing, energy, travel and housing. The purchase of so-called 'luxury' goods such as cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and satellite television subscriptions would be prohibited.
Speaking in Parliament, Shelbrooke said:
Category: News stories -
12/12/2012
Steady decline in public support for welfare
Public support for the benefits system has been in steady decline in recent decades, according to a report from the polling organization Ipsos MORI. The report looks at contemporary public opinion towards the five 'giant evils' identified in the 1942 Beveridge report – want, idleness, ignorance, squalor and disease. It highlights the findings of its own recent work as well as referencing those of other studies.
Category: Reports -
06/12/2012
Chancellor hits benefits again
Most benefits and tax credits for working-age people will be cut in real terms for three years in a row from 2013-14, under plans announced by the Chancellor in his 2012 Autumn Statement on the public finances.
The Chancellor admitted he would fail to meet his pledges on public borrowing as a result of worsening prospects for economic growth. Forecasts of growth from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility were revised down significantly for every year between 2012 and 2016. As a result, the Chancellor said, the government's 'austerity measures' would have to be extended until at least 2017-18 – three years longer than originally promised.
In overall terms, however, the measures outlined in the Autumn Statement were neutral in their effect on the public finances. Instead the Chancellor chose to make significant changes in the way spending cuts will fall on different groups and areas of spending.
Category: News stories -
05/12/2012
Making the welfare system more contributory
by Graeme Cooke
Ed Miliband has argued that Labour’s position on welfare should do more to demand responsibility and reward contribution, sparking a revival of interest in the notion of ‘contributory welfare’. This can be traced to the coming together of two forces over the last couple of years. On the one hand, the realisation that the welfare state offers minimal protection for those who have paid into the system at moments when disaster strikes. On the other, the hardening of attitudes towards those on welfare, in particular the widespread fear that the system offers a ‘free ride’ for people who do not work.
Category: Articles -
22/11/2012
MPs’ concerns over universal credit
Serious concerns have been voiced by a committee of MPs about the potential impact of the new universal credit system on vulnerable claimants. The cross-party Work and Pensions Select Committee says it is especially worried about the online claims system and the proposal for single monthly payments.
Category: Reports -
22/11/2012
Welfare state ‘becoming unsustainable’
The welfare state in its existing form will become unsustainable over the next few decades, according to a report by a Conservative MP. Writing for the right-of-centre Free Enterprise Group, Chris Skidmore calls for fundamental reform of the benefits system.
Category: Reports -
21/11/2012
Benefit levels fallen across Europe
Benefit levels for working-age people have been falling relative to average living standards in almost every European Union country in recent decades, according to the latest paper from a large-scale research project on poverty and inequality.
The researchers examined trends in minimum income guarantees for able-bodied persons of working age in the EU (together with Norway and three American states). The degree of benefits erosion was measured by three indicators: real benefit trends, benefit trends relative to average wages, and benefit trends relative to median equivalent income.
Category: Reports -
20/11/2012
Contrasting views of disability work test
A contrasting picture of the operation of the work capability assessment for disabled people has appeared in two new reports. The first, an officially commissioned review, says no fundamental change in the system is needed. The second documents the actual experiences of disabled people going through the test.
Harrington reviewThe third independent review report, by Professor Malcolm Harrington, concedes that the assessment continues to be portrayed in an extremely negative light, often fuelled by 'adverse media coverage', 'representative groups', and 'political points scoring'. But while there are reports of individual cases of people being poorly treated by the process, the government can be 'reasonably pleased' with what it has achieved. A further period of radical reform to the process is not needed, Harrington believes, although he says some areas for improvement remain.
Category: Reports -
20/11/2012
Benefit system riddled with ‘stigma’
Misleading news coverage is preventing thousands of people from claiming vital social security benefits, according to Kent University researchers. They found one in four eligible people had either delayed or failed to make a benefits claim because of the perceived stigma attached to doing so.
Category: Reports
