Tax Credits and In-Work Poverty in the UK: An Analysis of Income Packages and Anti-Poverty Performance

an article by Rod Hick (Cardiff University, UK) and Alba Lanau (University of Bristol, UK) published in Social Policy and Society Volume 18 Issue 2 (April 2019)

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between tax credits and in-work poverty, drawing on the findings from a major national study on in-work poverty.

We present an analysis of

1. the income packages of working families and 
2. the performance of tax credits in relation to anti-poverty objectives, drawing on data from the Households Below Average Income survey between 2004/5 and 2014/15.

Our study generates five novel findings, including

• that tax credits reduce the poverty gap of recipient households by two-thirds;
• that tax credit cuts post-2010/11 have served to focus payments on single parent families and households with greater numbers of children; and
• that tax credits make up just one third of the social security income of working households.

We argue that understanding in greater depth the interaction between tax credits and income adequacy amongst working families is necessary to provide a firmer foundation for an effective assault on in-work poverty.

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Relative Poverty, British Social Policy Writing and Public Experience

an article by Andrew Dunn University of Lincoln, UK) published in Social Policy and Society Volume 16 Issue 3 (July 2017)

Abstract

Relative poverty, a concept developed by left-wing social scientists, categorises as ‘poor’ those who fall seriously behind normal nationwide material standards. This article argues that the widespread view that the word ‘poverty’ means ‘relative poverty’, which in left-dominated social policy academia often extends to implying that those who do not define poverty this way are necessarily misguided, has led to an incomplete portrayal of poorer British people's lived experience.

The article examines published empirical work, before presenting findings from British Social Attitudes surveys and interviews with forty unemployed Jobseeker's Allowance claimants and thirty employed people.

Both the existing and new findings exposed aspects of public attitudes and experience which resonate with unanswered academic criticisms of defining poverty as relative poverty.

These public contributions have tended to be glossed over or treated dismissively by social policy authors, despite them attaching importance to Left-friendly aspects of poorer people's experience and attitudes.

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Supporting the UK’s Workless – An International Comparative Perspective

an article by Mike Danson (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK), Ailsa McKay (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK) and Willie Sullivan (Common Weal, Biggar, UK) published in Social Policy & Administration Volume 49 Issue 2 (March 2015)

Abstract

Within and between nations, spatial inequalities in relation to health, labour markets and employment shape the barriers faced by those trapped on disability benefits, and thus create challenges for public policy.

To provide context for such analyses and policy discussions, this article presents evidence on levels of poverty, welfare support and inequality across Europe. It compares and contrasts especially the position and support for those out of or at the margins of the labour market under different welfare states to reveal the significant differences between the UK on the one hand and the Nordic and Benelux countries on the other hand.

Applying insights from theories and practices of endogenous growth, universalism and inclusion, it is demonstrated that lessons are to be learnt from the better economic and social performances of the more inclusive and coherent nations of northern Europe. In particular, it is argued that the very high levels of poverty and inequality inherent in the neo-liberal policies of the UK cannot generate the conditions for simultaneously reducing public sector deficits and stimulating demand so that worklessness and exclusion inevitably will continue.

The article concludes that an alternative social democratic paradigm is required based on solidarity, equity and fiscal responsibility to address this self-defeating feedback.

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Poverty, social security and stigma

a feature article by Kate Bell in Poverty Issue 144(Spring 2013)

‘Proud to be poor’ is not a banner under which many want to march.

Writing recently about the lack of respect accorded to those living on a low income, Ruth Lister identified the strong and historic link between poverty and stigma. Social security can be seen as a way of helping to reduce the stigma of poverty, providing enough for people to participate in society, without being reduced to charity. But in recent years, there has been a perception of an increasing sense of stigma attached simply to the receipt of benefits. Kate Bell asks whether social security itself has become a source of shame.

Full text (PDF 4pp)

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Recent Statutory Instruments – legislation.gov.uk

via Inner Temple Library Current Awareness Service

Only one that I think might interest readers from 15 March

The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2013

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

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The geography of stupidity: From where do all the bad ideas come?

an article by Danny Dorling (The University of Sheffield) published in Local Economy Volume 27 Number 5-6 (August/September 2012)

Abstract

The 30-year rule governing the release of Cabinet papers means that the British people only learned of a covert 1980s policy to manage the decline of northern England in early 2012.

We can only guess at what is really being said behind closed doors today.

There are some clues in a series of newspaper reports published in 2012 and in the social backgrounds and professed beliefs of the current Cabinet. They point to what might be the real intention behind reforms in education, health, housing and social security.

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Three ways to defend social security in Britain

an article by Ben Baumberg (affiliation(s) not provided) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 20 Number 2 (June 2012)

Abstract

British social security is now in a time of crisis, where cuts are being made to a system that was already struggling to provide decent security.

In this paper I argue that successful proposals to combat this must
(i) lead to reductions in poverty/inequality;
(ii) fit existing perceptions of claimant “deservingness”, and;
(iii) change deservingness perceptions in the long run.

I conclude that three influential recent proposals – Decent Childhoods¹, National Salary Insurance², and The Solidarity Society³ – are only partially successful in meeting these criteria, and that successful reform requires a fusion of the respective insights of each proposal.

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¹I failed to find a link to the document but here is a blog post about it.
²by Graeme Cook published by IPPR – full report (PDF 18pp)
³by Tim Horton and James Gregory for The Fabian Society summary  (PDF 20pp) full report (PDF 260pp)

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Non-Unique Social Security Numbers?

that's the American equivalent of our National Insurance Number (NINO) – and you;d better believe that the same is true for the UK only with rather smaller numbers, most of which are never discussed.

via Coffee Klatch by pfitz on 21 August 2010

Your Social Security number may not be unique to you.
An article I recently read says that millions of Social Security numbers are shared by more than one person.
Just how many?

Out of the 280 million Social Security numbers the firm studied across its network of databases:

• More than 20 million people have more than one number associated with their name.
• More than 40 million numbers are associated with more than one person.
• More than 100,000 Americans have 5 or more numbers associated with their name.
• More than 27,000 Social Security numbers are associated with 10 or more people.

See full article from WalletPop: http://srph.it/bSi4i9

Hazel’s comment:
Do you believe in coincidence? Personally I think that things happen for a reason – I just can’t always figure out what the reason is.
Let’s proceed with the coincidence of this piece of “news” which I read this morning, the day after I posted an abstract about credibility and commented on trusted sources. Scott Pfitzinger, reference librarian at Butler University in the USA, writer of the Coffee Klatch blog, is firmly one of my trusted sources. If Scott says it’s so then I check no further.
And if you like corny jokes – all good clean fun – then look at some of Scott’s – the puns are outrageous.

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