Society & Welfare

  • Labour market

    Say No to Workfare

    25th May 2012 — Filed under: Labour market, Society & Welfare

    Richard Exell Richard Exell

    The TUC’s new Charter on work experience and workfare sets out just why we are opposed to workfare and draws a distinction between bad work experience and good.

    Workfare – making unemployed people do unpaid work in jobs that would normally be done by paid workers – is triply unfair. Firstly, it is unfair to unemployed people –unpaid work is exploitation, pure and simple. Secondly, it is unfair to workers – when they have to compete with workfare conscripts some workers will lose their jobs, others will find that their pay, overtime or other conditions deteriorate (and the workers who lose most will be the weakest and lowest paid.)

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    Something for nothing or nothing for something?

    25th May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Matthew Oakley Matthew Oakley
    Guest Post from Matt Oakley of Policy Exchange – see also the contributions by Richard Exell and Declan Gaffney and Kate Bell.

    Two weeks ago the TUC launched the pamphlet Making a Contribution: social security for the future, introducing the concept of the “nothing for something” welfare state and arguing that we should return to a system which is based more strongly on the contributory principle.

    Many readers of this blog may be surprised to hear that Policy Exchange completely agrees: the welfare system must be made to better reflect contribution.

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    Pressure mounts on single parents to move off unemployment benefits, but where are the family-friendly jobs?

    23rd May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Philippa Newis Philippa Newis

    Over the last two years, austerity has tightened its grip on the welfare system. Levels of child benefit have been frozen, support for help with childcare costs has been reduced and the health in pregnancy grant has been scrapped, to name but a few.

    From this week, single parents will yet again feel the pinch. Single parents whose youngest child is five are no longer entitled to receive income support (IS). Instead, they will need to claim jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) or another benefit. This is one of the first provisions of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to come into force. It is the latest in a steady stream of welfare-to-work initiatives targeted at single parents over the last 14 years.

    Single parents on JSA will get the same amount of money as they did on IS but will have to show that they are actively looking for work in order to receive their fortnightly payment. But is it as simple as ‘off to work we go’?

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    Benefit Cuts will hit tenants, not landlords

    11th May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Richard Exell Richard Exell

    One of the justifications for the benefit cap in the Welfare Reform Act has always been that Housing Benefit (which is the main benefit that will be affected) is effectively subsidising landlords’ high rents. As David Freud told the Work and Pensions Committee:

    We are expecting a large number of people who receive less housing benefit to be able to negotiate their rents downwards.

    I’ve always been sceptical about this claim and the latest mortgage and landlord possession statistics from the Ministry of Justice suggest that this is a really bad time to rely on tenants’ ability to persuade landlords to cut their rents.

    Continue Reading →

  • Economics

    May Day 2012

    4th May 2012 — Filed under: Economics, Politics, Society & Welfare

    Paul Sellers Paul Sellers

    The coming May Day bank holiday will be the 34th since it was introduced way back in in 1978. In those far-off days of Government incomes policies, the TUC had a series of meetings with the Government in 1977 to discuss introducing the new bank holiday as part of the quid pro quo (I have the minutes). This followed on our previous success in getting New Years Day established as a bank holiday (1974).

    Let’s get out there and enjoy this holiday, which we richly deserve. Perhaps the weather may not be the best ever, but if we are going to get depressed by the odd shower then we are probably living in the wrong country. There are plenty of things that we could this weekend indoors and outdoors, including visiting a number of local trade union festivals  (this is not just being “worthy”, the one taking place in Dorchester on Sunday afternoon is basically a mini rock festival) – and more traditional May Day events.

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    LIVE webinar – Making a Contribution: Social security for the future

    4th May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Thanks to everyone who joined us today for a live online seminar on benefits reform, with independent researchers Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney. You can see a recording of the seminar here:

    Could National Insurance help make Britain’s welfare state more effective and popular?

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    What is living and what is dead in the contributory principle? (Part 2)

    3rd May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Guest post from Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney, ahead of their presentations to the TUC’s online seminar on benefits reform this Friday. Register now to attend in person or for an online reminder.

    Tomorrow sees the publication of our report for the TUC, making the case for the revival of the contributory principle in the social security system. As we set out in a post on Wednesday, we need to move beyond the ‘something for nothing’ perspective which dominates discussion of social security in the UK and address the ‘nothing for something’  problem.

    Too many people who pay into the system get nothing, or little, in return. This in turn helps to foster a ‘them and us’ culture where benefits are seen only as something for the poorest and most desperate in society – rather than fulfilling their original function of providing insurance and savings to spread costs across a life time. In this final post, we explore three areas where there is the potential improve the balance between contribution and entitlement.

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    Contributory benefits and social security policy

    2nd May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Richard Exell Richard Exell

    Could a revived National Insurance system help win back support for the welfare state and address key economic and social changes? That is the question addressed in a forthcoming Touchstone pamphlet, Making a Contribution by Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney; Kate and Declan will be presenting their research in a seminar on Friday, with responses by Matthew Oakley of Policy Exchange and yours truly.

    In a recent opinion poll, 74% of British people agreed that “the government pays out too much in benefits; welfare levels overall should be reduced.” And yet as recently as 1996, 52% said that benefit levels were “too low and cause hardship.”

    What has happened?

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    What is living and what is dead in the contributory principle?

    2nd May 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Guest post from Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney, ahead of their presentations to the TUC’s online seminar on benefits reform this Friday. Register now to attend in person or for an online reminder.

    This year marks the 70th anniversary of Sir William Beveridge’s epoch-making report Social Insurance and Allied Services, which set out the main features of the post-war social security system. Famously, Beveridge proclaimed that ‘Benefit in return for contributions, rather than free allowances from the State, is what the people of Britain desire’. In a new Touchstone pamphlet we ask whether Beveridge’s contributory principle is relevant to social security in the 21st century, a subject we will be debating at a TUC seminar on Friday.

    Continue Reading →

  • Society & Welfare

    An uncertain future for Free School Meals

    20th April 2012 — Filed under: Society & Welfare

    Sam Royston Sam Royston

    Thousands of low income families rely on Free School Meals, but the means-testing rules can create a real disincentive to work; unfortunately, this is set to get even worse when the new Universal Credit is introduced in 2013. Currently, families that get means-tested out of work benefits like Jobseeker’s Allowance qualify for Free School Meals for any children they have in school.

    Low income working families can qualify, but only if they work under 16 hours per week (24 hours for couples) and earn less than £16,190 per year. This can create a substantial work disincentive since working families can lose the key benefit (worth around £370 per child per year) no matter how little they earn. In fact, of families in receipt of Free School Meals, who The Children’s Society surveyed for our report “Fair and Square: The future of Free School Meals” six out of ten said that the threat of the loss o f Free School Meals has a direct impact on their decisions about moving into work or taking on additional hours.

    Continue Reading →