This is the title of an article by Richard Machin (Nottingham Trent University) published in Adviser the citizens advice journal for advisers and subscribers.
I have read it thanks to the British Library and it clearly sets out the problems that have beset women because of benefit changes. The article itself is not available online but many of the source materials used are. I've not copied them all but have picked those which I believe to be most relevant.
Equality and Human Rights Commission (2018), "Pressing for progress: women’s rights and gender equality in 2018"
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/pressing-progress-women%E2%80%99s-rights-and-gender-equality-2018
Close the Gap (2018), "Challenging poverty means challenging women’s inequality at work", https://www.closethegap.org.uk/news/blog/challenging-poverty-means-challenging-womens-inequality-at-work/
Equality and Human Rights Commission (2018), "The cumulative impact of tax and welfare reforms" https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/cumulative-impact-tax-and-welfare-reforms
Full Fact (2018), "Do new Universal Credit requirements affect women more?", https://fullfact.org/economy/universal-credit-women/
It is not strictly true to say that this is not available online but you need to sign up to Medium (using Google or Facebook) and then get lost in the multiplicity of sources. Personally I do not advise that you do this.
Showing posts with label welfare_reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label welfare_reform. Show all posts
Friday, 5 April 2019
Thursday, 21 March 2019
Living on a knife edge: the responses of people with physical health conditions to changes in disability benefits
an article by Jessica Saffer and Lizette Nolte (University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK) and Simon Duffy (Centre for Welfare Reform, Sheffield, UK) published in Disability & Society Volume 33 Issue 10 (2018)
Abstract
This article documents the experiences of people with a physical health condition or disability who have experienced a loss of or change in disability benefits under the welfare reform programme in the United Kingdom. A theoretical model was constructed using in-depth interviews and grounded theory methods.
The findings show that participants experienced the benefits system as dehumanising, and felt that they lived in a judgemental and invalidating society, where they were perceived as ‘scroungers’ and faced discrimination from others. These experiences negatively affected their mental and physical health and well-being. They also negatively affected participants’ identity, leading to experiences of shame, hopelessness and social isolation.
However, many participants attempted to resist these negative impacts (e.g. through seeking support or taking political action). The findings demonstrate the significant impact of benefit changes on well-being and identity, thus highlighting important implications for claimants, and staff in healthcare, the benefits system and government.
Abstract
This article documents the experiences of people with a physical health condition or disability who have experienced a loss of or change in disability benefits under the welfare reform programme in the United Kingdom. A theoretical model was constructed using in-depth interviews and grounded theory methods.
The findings show that participants experienced the benefits system as dehumanising, and felt that they lived in a judgemental and invalidating society, where they were perceived as ‘scroungers’ and faced discrimination from others. These experiences negatively affected their mental and physical health and well-being. They also negatively affected participants’ identity, leading to experiences of shame, hopelessness and social isolation.
However, many participants attempted to resist these negative impacts (e.g. through seeking support or taking political action). The findings demonstrate the significant impact of benefit changes on well-being and identity, thus highlighting important implications for claimants, and staff in healthcare, the benefits system and government.
Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Discretion As Blame Avoidance: Passing the Buck to Local Authorities in 'Welfare Reform'
an article by Jed Meers (University of York, UK) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 27 Number 1 (February 2019)
Abstract
This paper argues that central governments can avoid blame for cuts to social security by giving local authorities discretionary powers.
When making reductions to entitlements, conferring discretion avoids delineating who is affected, allowing for conflicts in policy formation to be deliberately fudged, decisions to be shielded from the gaze of the public and the courts, and responsibility for the impact of budget reductions to be externalised.
Using three 'welfare reforms' in the UK as examples – the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, Discretionary Housing Payments, and local welfare assistance schemes – four 'blame avoidance' functions of conferring discretion are proposed.
Abstract
This paper argues that central governments can avoid blame for cuts to social security by giving local authorities discretionary powers.
When making reductions to entitlements, conferring discretion avoids delineating who is affected, allowing for conflicts in policy formation to be deliberately fudged, decisions to be shielded from the gaze of the public and the courts, and responsibility for the impact of budget reductions to be externalised.
Using three 'welfare reforms' in the UK as examples – the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, Discretionary Housing Payments, and local welfare assistance schemes – four 'blame avoidance' functions of conferring discretion are proposed.
Monday, 11 February 2019
The growth of food banks in Britain and what they mean for social policy
an article by Hannah Lambie-Mumford (University of Sheffield, England) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 39 Issue 1 (February 2019)
Abstract
Recent UK social policy has been dominated by welfare reform and austerity.
This article draws on empirical research to argue that the rise and prominence of food banks is the embodiment of a wider political–economic trajectory of social policy change which has intensified significantly since 2010 and involved reinterpretations of the causes of and responses to poverty.
It highlights the potential of food banks as a lens through which to interrogate the consequences of these policy shifts in relation to: the importance of structural determinants; the inadequacy of relying on ad hoc privatised caring initiatives; and the increasing embeddedness of food banks in local welfare landscapes.
The article concludes by arguing that food is an important conceptual tool, which critical social policy researchers should employ more often to explore questions of justice, equality and well-being.
Abstract
Recent UK social policy has been dominated by welfare reform and austerity.
This article draws on empirical research to argue that the rise and prominence of food banks is the embodiment of a wider political–economic trajectory of social policy change which has intensified significantly since 2010 and involved reinterpretations of the causes of and responses to poverty.
It highlights the potential of food banks as a lens through which to interrogate the consequences of these policy shifts in relation to: the importance of structural determinants; the inadequacy of relying on ad hoc privatised caring initiatives; and the increasing embeddedness of food banks in local welfare landscapes.
The article concludes by arguing that food is an important conceptual tool, which critical social policy researchers should employ more often to explore questions of justice, equality and well-being.
Tuesday, 22 May 2018
A hand up or a slap down? Criminalising benefit claimants in Britain via strategies of surveillance, sanctions and deterrence
an article by Del Roy Fletcher (Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield, England) and Sharon Wright (University of Glasgow, Scotland) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 38 Issue 2 (May 2018)
Abstract
British policy-makers have increasingly sought to intensify and extend welfare conditionality. A distinctly more punitive turn was taken in 2012 to re-orientate the whole social security and employment services system to combine harsh sanctions with minimal mandatory support in order to prioritise moving individuals ‘off benefit and into work’ with the primary aim of reducing costs.
This article questions the extent to which these changes can be explained by Wacquant’s (2009) theory of the ‘centaur state’ (a neoliberal head on an authoritarian body), which sees poverty criminalised via the advance of workfare.
We present evidence of an authoritarian approach to unemployment, involving dramatic use of strategies of surveillance (via new paternalist tools like the Claimant Commitment and the Universal Jobmatch panopticon), sanction and deterrence. This shift has replaced job match support with mandatory digital self-help, coercion and punishment.
In relation to Work Programme providers, there is a contrasting liberal approach permitting high discretion in service design.
This article makes a significant original contribution to the field by demonstrating that Wacquant’s analysis of ‘workfare’ is broadly applicable to the British case and its reliance on a centralised model of state action is truer in the British case than the US.
However, we establish that the character of British reform is somewhat different: less ‘new’ (challenging the time-tethered interpretation that welfare reform is a uniquely neoliberal product of late modernity) and more broadly applied to ‘core’ workers, including working-class white men with earned entitlement, rather than peripheral workers.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Abstract
British policy-makers have increasingly sought to intensify and extend welfare conditionality. A distinctly more punitive turn was taken in 2012 to re-orientate the whole social security and employment services system to combine harsh sanctions with minimal mandatory support in order to prioritise moving individuals ‘off benefit and into work’ with the primary aim of reducing costs.
This article questions the extent to which these changes can be explained by Wacquant’s (2009) theory of the ‘centaur state’ (a neoliberal head on an authoritarian body), which sees poverty criminalised via the advance of workfare.
We present evidence of an authoritarian approach to unemployment, involving dramatic use of strategies of surveillance (via new paternalist tools like the Claimant Commitment and the Universal Jobmatch panopticon), sanction and deterrence. This shift has replaced job match support with mandatory digital self-help, coercion and punishment.
In relation to Work Programme providers, there is a contrasting liberal approach permitting high discretion in service design.
This article makes a significant original contribution to the field by demonstrating that Wacquant’s analysis of ‘workfare’ is broadly applicable to the British case and its reliance on a centralised model of state action is truer in the British case than the US.
However, we establish that the character of British reform is somewhat different: less ‘new’ (challenging the time-tethered interpretation that welfare reform is a uniquely neoliberal product of late modernity) and more broadly applied to ‘core’ workers, including working-class white men with earned entitlement, rather than peripheral workers.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Saturday, 18 November 2017
‘Got a degree...all of a sudden I'm in a Jobcentre’: The role of 'stigma' in 'precarious' graduate transitions
an article by Adam Paul Formby (University of Leeds, UK) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 25 Number 3 (October 2017)
Abstract
There is widespread evidence that those claiming out-of-work benefits experience different types of ‘benefit stigma’ in the UK, with the focus largely falling on conventionally disadvantaged welfare users.
In contrast, graduates' experiences of ‘benefits stigma’ go unnoticed because of their relative advantage within the labour market. Yet, an increase in precarity across the labour market has unsettled graduate transitions and is re-shaping their relationships with out-of-work benefits.
Against this backdrop, this article explores how graduates respond to different aspects of ‘benefit stigma’. It posits that challenging stigmatising narratives associated with out-of-benefits – is integral to support graduates furthest away from knowledge-based economy jobs.
Abstract
There is widespread evidence that those claiming out-of-work benefits experience different types of ‘benefit stigma’ in the UK, with the focus largely falling on conventionally disadvantaged welfare users.
In contrast, graduates' experiences of ‘benefits stigma’ go unnoticed because of their relative advantage within the labour market. Yet, an increase in precarity across the labour market has unsettled graduate transitions and is re-shaping their relationships with out-of-work benefits.
Against this backdrop, this article explores how graduates respond to different aspects of ‘benefit stigma’. It posits that challenging stigmatising narratives associated with out-of-benefits – is integral to support graduates furthest away from knowledge-based economy jobs.
Monday, 3 April 2017
Welfare conditionality, benefit sanctions and homelessness in the UK: ending the 'something for nothing culture' or punishing the poor?
an article by Kesia Reeve (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 25 Number 1 (February 2017)
Abstract
In 2012 the UK government introduced the harshest régime of conditionality and sanctions in the history of the benefits system. The government insists sanctions are not punitive, but critics call this into question.
In particular, the régime has been charged with disproportionately affecting vulnerable people. Based on a survey and qualitative interviews with homeless people, this paper shows that homeless people are disproportionately sanctioned, and argues that it is difficult to see the régime as anything but punishment – punishment not for refusing to participate in the labour market, but for being unable to do so through homelessness, poverty and ill-health.
Full Text (PDF)
Abstract
In 2012 the UK government introduced the harshest régime of conditionality and sanctions in the history of the benefits system. The government insists sanctions are not punitive, but critics call this into question.
In particular, the régime has been charged with disproportionately affecting vulnerable people. Based on a survey and qualitative interviews with homeless people, this paper shows that homeless people are disproportionately sanctioned, and argues that it is difficult to see the régime as anything but punishment – punishment not for refusing to participate in the labour market, but for being unable to do so through homelessness, poverty and ill-health.
Full Text (PDF)
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Responsibilising recovery: Lone and low-paid parents, Universal Credit and the gendered contradictions of UK welfare reform
an article by Ruth Cain (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK) published in British Politics Volume 11 Issue 4 (December 2016)
Abstract
Universal Credit is a new benefits delivery system designed to streamline UK benefits and tax credits and encourage work.
This paper examines Universal Credit’s effect on lone parent and low-paid households. Lone mothers, identified as a moral and financial risk, face conditionality which ignores barriers to employment. Universal Credit also extends conditionality to lower-paid workers and their families. It encodes contradictory gendered messages.
While individual parental responsibility is increasingly socially and legally emphasised, unemployed or low-paid parents may be forced to spend minimal time with children under threat of sanctions or workfare.
Universal Credit demonstrates a clash between market-liberal economic ideals of labour flexibility, and conservative valorisations of the good mother and (married/heteronormative) family, enhanced by ‘recovery’ discourses of thrift and responsibilisation.
This paper argues that such moral/economic incoherence will penalise ‘workless’ and ‘part-workless’ citizens who cannot fulfil neoliberal ideals of the private, self-sufficient family unit in hostile economic conditions.
Abstract
Universal Credit is a new benefits delivery system designed to streamline UK benefits and tax credits and encourage work.
This paper examines Universal Credit’s effect on lone parent and low-paid households. Lone mothers, identified as a moral and financial risk, face conditionality which ignores barriers to employment. Universal Credit also extends conditionality to lower-paid workers and their families. It encodes contradictory gendered messages.
While individual parental responsibility is increasingly socially and legally emphasised, unemployed or low-paid parents may be forced to spend minimal time with children under threat of sanctions or workfare.
Universal Credit demonstrates a clash between market-liberal economic ideals of labour flexibility, and conservative valorisations of the good mother and (married/heteronormative) family, enhanced by ‘recovery’ discourses of thrift and responsibilisation.
This paper argues that such moral/economic incoherence will penalise ‘workless’ and ‘part-workless’ citizens who cannot fulfil neoliberal ideals of the private, self-sufficient family unit in hostile economic conditions.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Examining the labor market presence of US WISEs
an article by Kate Cooney (Yale University School of Management, Connecticut, USA) published in Social Enterprise Journal Volume 9 Issue 2 (2013)
Abstract
Purpose
Work integration social enterprises (WISEs) create jobs through business ventures that function as locations for training and employment of disadvantaged workers. A key challenge for US WISEs is that the businesses that are easiest to launch and best suited to absorb large numbers of unskilled workers may be located in the same low wage labour market sectors out of which these interventions are designed to catapult workers. This paper aims to present data on an understudied aspect of WISEs: the labour market niches where they are active, the occupations associated with these labour market positions, and the work conditions offered through their WISE businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Data presented in this paper are from a national WISE database developed by the author that includes 254 businesses associated with 123 WISEs, and a pilot study of 15 WISEs testing an instrument for use in a national survey of US WISEs. Each business associated with the WISEs in the national database was coded for industry, occupation and wage data using categories developed by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each WISE business was further coded as preparing its workers for either low or middle skill jobs. These data were analysed using frequency counts, chi square tests of association and a two-step cluster analysis. To explore employment conditions inside WISE businesses, the pilot study data were analysed using a multiple case study analysis approach. Through focused coding techniques, descriptions of the employment conditions associated with the WISE jobs are reviewed.
Findings
Analysis at the level of occupation category reveals that about 72 percent of the jobs that WISEs train clients to perform exist in low skill occupations. Chi-square tests of association between NTEE code (a proxy for target population) and job skill level are not significant suggesting that low skill training is utilised by organisations serving clients facing a range of disadvantage. Cluster analyses indicate that for WISEs targeting disabled populations and for newer organisations targeting the general unemployed populations, low skill job training pervades but for education organisation and for older employment organisations, middle skill job training is more prevalent. The pilot data analyses show that the WISEs offer minimum wage or higher wage positions but many without guaranteed hours or a clear pathway out of WISE employment.
Practical implications
These data suggest WISEs in the USA have grown well beyond their earlier, narrower niche working with the disabled to employ a much broader portfolio of client populations, many higher functioning. However, the findings that many WISEs are positioned in the low skill labour market and on some dimensions can mirror the low skill labour market employment conditions suggest that additional aspects of WISE workforce development strategy should be taken into account.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on the labour market niches where WISEs are active, the occupations associated with these labour market positions, and the work conditions offered.
Hazel’s comment:
I could not find a similar study on social enterprises in the UK. If there is one then please let us know in the comments.
Abstract
Purpose
Work integration social enterprises (WISEs) create jobs through business ventures that function as locations for training and employment of disadvantaged workers. A key challenge for US WISEs is that the businesses that are easiest to launch and best suited to absorb large numbers of unskilled workers may be located in the same low wage labour market sectors out of which these interventions are designed to catapult workers. This paper aims to present data on an understudied aspect of WISEs: the labour market niches where they are active, the occupations associated with these labour market positions, and the work conditions offered through their WISE businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Data presented in this paper are from a national WISE database developed by the author that includes 254 businesses associated with 123 WISEs, and a pilot study of 15 WISEs testing an instrument for use in a national survey of US WISEs. Each business associated with the WISEs in the national database was coded for industry, occupation and wage data using categories developed by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each WISE business was further coded as preparing its workers for either low or middle skill jobs. These data were analysed using frequency counts, chi square tests of association and a two-step cluster analysis. To explore employment conditions inside WISE businesses, the pilot study data were analysed using a multiple case study analysis approach. Through focused coding techniques, descriptions of the employment conditions associated with the WISE jobs are reviewed.
Findings
Analysis at the level of occupation category reveals that about 72 percent of the jobs that WISEs train clients to perform exist in low skill occupations. Chi-square tests of association between NTEE code (a proxy for target population) and job skill level are not significant suggesting that low skill training is utilised by organisations serving clients facing a range of disadvantage. Cluster analyses indicate that for WISEs targeting disabled populations and for newer organisations targeting the general unemployed populations, low skill job training pervades but for education organisation and for older employment organisations, middle skill job training is more prevalent. The pilot data analyses show that the WISEs offer minimum wage or higher wage positions but many without guaranteed hours or a clear pathway out of WISE employment.
Practical implications
These data suggest WISEs in the USA have grown well beyond their earlier, narrower niche working with the disabled to employ a much broader portfolio of client populations, many higher functioning. However, the findings that many WISEs are positioned in the low skill labour market and on some dimensions can mirror the low skill labour market employment conditions suggest that additional aspects of WISE workforce development strategy should be taken into account.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on the labour market niches where WISEs are active, the occupations associated with these labour market positions, and the work conditions offered.
Hazel’s comment:
I could not find a similar study on social enterprises in the UK. If there is one then please let us know in the comments.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Bringing political identity into discursive and ideational analysis: Welfare reform in Britain and the United States
an article by Fiona Ross (University of Bristol, UK and Lone Star College, Montgomery, Texas) published in British Politics Volume 8 issue 1 (April 2012)
Abstract
Over the past decade political science has benefited from a blossoming of research on ideas, discourse and constructivism.
These constructs and theories have greatly enriched our understanding of political processes, structures and cases but they have yet to elaborate a meaningful understanding of the actor despite promising to infuse institutionalism with a source of agency.
This article explores the impact of political identity, a concept that is intimately linked with the core epistemology of the constructivist research agenda, through the lens of welfare reform in two cases where the strength of identity politics differs, Britain and the United States. The concept of identity relates to who is constructing ideas and discourse and it invites ideational and discursive analyses to take actors seriously, beyond their generic role as thinkers and speakers.
Among voters, the capacity to construct an imperative for reform is not shared equally between actors. Actors who are identified with the extant path are more able to construct the imperative for departing from that path. Among elites at the institutional level, identity politics are tribal and legislators have clear incentives to lower resistance to their own chieftains.
The article argues that New Labour enjoyed enhanced success in constructing an imperative for reform and in legislating dramatic change in part because of its political identity. Much weaker but still identifiable effects are observed in the United States.
Abstract
Over the past decade political science has benefited from a blossoming of research on ideas, discourse and constructivism.
These constructs and theories have greatly enriched our understanding of political processes, structures and cases but they have yet to elaborate a meaningful understanding of the actor despite promising to infuse institutionalism with a source of agency.
This article explores the impact of political identity, a concept that is intimately linked with the core epistemology of the constructivist research agenda, through the lens of welfare reform in two cases where the strength of identity politics differs, Britain and the United States. The concept of identity relates to who is constructing ideas and discourse and it invites ideational and discursive analyses to take actors seriously, beyond their generic role as thinkers and speakers.
Among voters, the capacity to construct an imperative for reform is not shared equally between actors. Actors who are identified with the extant path are more able to construct the imperative for departing from that path. Among elites at the institutional level, identity politics are tribal and legislators have clear incentives to lower resistance to their own chieftains.
The article argues that New Labour enjoyed enhanced success in constructing an imperative for reform and in legislating dramatic change in part because of its political identity. Much weaker but still identifiable effects are observed in the United States.
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Reforms to the welfare system begin
Department for Work & Pensions press release on 28 March
April heralds a number of changes to the benefits system as part of the Government’s welfare reforms.
These changes will make work pay, improve support for disabled people, and help ensure the benefit system is financially sustainable in the future, whilst still supporting those who need it.
The changes are:
April heralds a number of changes to the benefits system as part of the Government’s welfare reforms.
These changes will make work pay, improve support for disabled people, and help ensure the benefit system is financially sustainable in the future, whilst still supporting those who need it.
The changes are:
- April 1 – Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy: Working-age tenants in the social sector will receive Housing Benefit for the number of bedrooms their household needs, bringing the rules in line with the private sector. Housing Benefit will no longer pay for spare bedrooms.
- April 1 – Crisis loans and community grants replaced by local provision: The full funding for this will be given to local authorities or devolved governments, who are best placed to ensure this money goes to those who need it the most.
- April 8 – Personal Independence Payment introduced: New claims for PIP will start with the Bootle benefit centre. Bootle will handle the claims from areas including Merseyside, North West England, Cumbria, Cheshire and North-East England. PIP replaces Disability Living Allowance for working-age claimants.
- April 8 – Benefit Uprating: The State Pension will increase by 2.5% because of the triple lock. Working-age benefits and tax credits will be uprated by 1 per cent. Disability benefits will continue to be uprated in line with inflation.
- April 15 – Benefit cap: Households on out-of-work benefits will no longer receive more than the average weekly wage after tax and National Insurance. To begin with, this rolls out in four London boroughs, and then nationally in the summer. Those on Disability Living Allowance and Working Tax Credits will be exempted.
- End of April – Universal Credit rolls out in pathfinder areas: Some new claimants will receive Universal Credit, which is replacing the six main out-of-work benefits to simplify the benefits system and make work pay.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Labour market, welfare reform and inequality in the United Kingdom
an OECD Economics Department Working Paper (Number 1034) by Christophe André, Clara Garcia and Jon Kristian Pareliussen (OECD, France) and Giulia Giupponi (affiliation(s) unknown)
Abstract
Employment has risen by more and unemployment has risen less than expected, given the path of output.
Nevertheless, long-term and youth unemployment and involuntary part-time work are high.
A polarised labour market risks worsening income inequality, which is high by OECD standards, despite a recent and likely temporary decline. The UK welfare system is an essential safety net, which needs to promote employment, while protecting the most vulnerable. The reformed welfare system, Universal Credit, and the employment programme for disadvantaged workers, Work Programme, will generally improve work incentives and provide support for return to work, but need to be refined. Skill deficiencies are holding back employment and fostering inequality, as low education achievements penalise children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Vocational training needs to be strengthened and cooperation with employers reinforced. Transition from education to work can prove challenging, requiring more attention to the integration of university graduates into the labour market.
JEL Classification: I38, J21, J24
Full text (PDF 45pp)
Abstract
Employment has risen by more and unemployment has risen less than expected, given the path of output.
Nevertheless, long-term and youth unemployment and involuntary part-time work are high.
A polarised labour market risks worsening income inequality, which is high by OECD standards, despite a recent and likely temporary decline. The UK welfare system is an essential safety net, which needs to promote employment, while protecting the most vulnerable. The reformed welfare system, Universal Credit, and the employment programme for disadvantaged workers, Work Programme, will generally improve work incentives and provide support for return to work, but need to be refined. Skill deficiencies are holding back employment and fostering inequality, as low education achievements penalise children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Vocational training needs to be strengthened and cooperation with employers reinforced. Transition from education to work can prove challenging, requiring more attention to the integration of university graduates into the labour market.
JEL Classification: I38, J21, J24
Full text (PDF 45pp)
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
DWP: Impact assessment on social security benefits uprating order 2013
What is the problem under consideration?
Why is government intervention necessary?
Welfare expenditure is a significant driver of public spending, and the Government has made a commitment to deliver a more sustainable welfare system. In the Autumn Statement (2012), it was announced that in light of the national economic situation, certain working-age social security benefits and payments, certain elements of tax credits, and Child Benefit, would be up-rated by 1 per cent rather than by prices (as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (‘CPI’)) for the tax years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16.
The Social Security Benefits Uprating Order effects the policy for some of these benefits in 2013/14 only
Continue reading
Why is government intervention necessary?
Welfare expenditure is a significant driver of public spending, and the Government has made a commitment to deliver a more sustainable welfare system. In the Autumn Statement (2012), it was announced that in light of the national economic situation, certain working-age social security benefits and payments, certain elements of tax credits, and Child Benefit, would be up-rated by 1 per cent rather than by prices (as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (‘CPI’)) for the tax years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16.
The Social Security Benefits Uprating Order effects the policy for some of these benefits in 2013/14 only
- The main working-age rates of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit; the work-related activity group component of Employment and Support Allowance;
- Statutory Sick Pay and standard rate elements of, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay; and Maternity Allowance.
Continue reading
The Double Lockout: How low income families will be locked out of fair living standards
a CPAG report
The report finds that:
- The bill is poverty-producing and means that both absolute and relative child poverty will increase (chapter 1, Lindsay Judge)
- Contrary to arguments made by Ministers, welfare spending on workless families has been falling and most Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants find new jobs within months (chapters 2 and 4, Declan Gaffney, Tracy Shildrick and Rob MacDonald)
- The bill puts the economy at risk by failing to protect the economy’s ‘automatic stabilisers’ (chapter 3, Jonathan Portes)
- Contrary to popular perception, benefit fraud is at its lowest ever recorded level and the ‘scrounger’ stereotype is grossly inaccurate (chapter 5, Ben Baumberg)
- The government must focus on the root causes of social security and tax credit demand and prioritise progress on full employment, living wages, affordable housing and affordable childcare (chapter 6, Alison Garnham)
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Offenders, welfare reforms and housing
an article by Jo Linney (Based at Linney Associates, Ware, UK) published in Safer Communities Volume 12 Issue 1 (2013)
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the article is to encourage debate, monitoring and further research into the effects of welfare reform, and related policies, in particular on offenders, housing and recidivism and the savings made through reforms versus the potential cost of increased recidivism.
Design/methodology/approach
The article is a review of legislative, consultation and available statistical documentation and available research on housing benefit shared accommodation rate.
Findings
The implementation of welfare reforms is ongoing; suitable stable accommodation has been identified as a key element in effective resettlement.
Research limitations/implications
There is little research on the combined impact of government budgetary constraints in relation to housing and recidivism and there is a need for further research, monitoring and discussion to monitor the future situation.
Practical implications
Monitoring by agencies and further research is required.
Social implications
There is potential for increased recidivism due to the availability of secure suitable accommodation.
Originality/value
There has been little discussion of the impact of welfare reforms on access to suitable secure housing and recidivism this article poses the questions.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the article is to encourage debate, monitoring and further research into the effects of welfare reform, and related policies, in particular on offenders, housing and recidivism and the savings made through reforms versus the potential cost of increased recidivism.
Design/methodology/approach
The article is a review of legislative, consultation and available statistical documentation and available research on housing benefit shared accommodation rate.
Findings
The implementation of welfare reforms is ongoing; suitable stable accommodation has been identified as a key element in effective resettlement.
Research limitations/implications
There is little research on the combined impact of government budgetary constraints in relation to housing and recidivism and there is a need for further research, monitoring and discussion to monitor the future situation.
Practical implications
Monitoring by agencies and further research is required.
Social implications
There is potential for increased recidivism due to the availability of secure suitable accommodation.
Originality/value
There has been little discussion of the impact of welfare reforms on access to suitable secure housing and recidivism this article poses the questions.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
unemployment benefits and earnings
via ToUChstone blog: A public policy blog from the TUC
by Nigel Stanley
The Conservative case for capping benefits is that they have been growing faster than earnings, as their poster today [8 January] seeks to highlight.
Being a pedantic grammarian this poster annoys me regardless of its message – Labour is not an ARE it is an IS.
I thought it might be interesting to look at how unemployment benefit has moved compared to earnings over a slightly more representative period. So I turned to the DWP’s Annual Abstract of Statistics, which is designed (among other things) to give precise answers to such questions.
Continue reading and do go right down to the comments where Nigel Stanley admits that his second graph is not as helpful as it might have been. I certainly found it a bit difficult which is not the purpose of graphical representation!
by Nigel Stanley
The Conservative case for capping benefits is that they have been growing faster than earnings, as their poster today [8 January] seeks to highlight.
Being a pedantic grammarian this poster annoys me regardless of its message – Labour is not an ARE it is an IS.
I thought it might be interesting to look at how unemployment benefit has moved compared to earnings over a slightly more representative period. So I turned to the DWP’s Annual Abstract of Statistics, which is designed (among other things) to give precise answers to such questions.
Continue reading and do go right down to the comments where Nigel Stanley admits that his second graph is not as helpful as it might have been. I certainly found it a bit difficult which is not the purpose of graphical representation!
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
All in it together? Disabled people, the Coalition and welfare to work
an article by Ruth Patrick (affiliation(s) not provided) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 20 Number 3 (October 2012)
Abstract
This paper critically explores the Westminster coalition government’s efforts to assist disabled people off benefits and into paid employment, focusing on the ongoing migration of Incapacity Benefit claimants onto Employment and Support Allowance.
Drawing on the social model of disability, it is argued that the current reform agenda individualises the problem of disability; placing too much emphasis on disabled people’s employability while neglecting broader societal barriers to their full and equal labour market participation.
Given these shortcomings, it seems unlikely that the Coalition’s approach will help disabled people to make the transition from welfare to work.
Abstract
This paper critically explores the Westminster coalition government’s efforts to assist disabled people off benefits and into paid employment, focusing on the ongoing migration of Incapacity Benefit claimants onto Employment and Support Allowance.
Drawing on the social model of disability, it is argued that the current reform agenda individualises the problem of disability; placing too much emphasis on disabled people’s employability while neglecting broader societal barriers to their full and equal labour market participation.
Given these shortcomings, it seems unlikely that the Coalition’s approach will help disabled people to make the transition from welfare to work.
Monday, 8 October 2012
More welfare cuts will not reduce people's dependency on the state
via JRF - Combined Feed by Helen Barnard
Cutting benefits for groups who receive little public sympathy may make for a good Conference speech, but it risks increasing poverty and hardship. And unless there is a follow up “master plan” for creating more and better jobs, massively increasing access to them and sorting out the housing crisis it's not likely to do as much as those advocating further cuts are hoping to reduce the deficit or people’s dependency on the state.
Continue reading here
Hazel’s comment:
Some people may find, as I did, that their blood pressure rises at the mere thought that a further £10bn can be taken from the welfare budget without dire consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.
Cutting benefits for groups who receive little public sympathy may make for a good Conference speech, but it risks increasing poverty and hardship. And unless there is a follow up “master plan” for creating more and better jobs, massively increasing access to them and sorting out the housing crisis it's not likely to do as much as those advocating further cuts are hoping to reduce the deficit or people’s dependency on the state.
Continue reading here
Hazel’s comment:
Some people may find, as I did, that their blood pressure rises at the mere thought that a further £10bn can be taken from the welfare budget without dire consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.
Monday, 3 September 2012
The Cumulative Impact of Welfare Reform
a briefing paper by Matthew Jackson and Stephanie Nixon published on the New Start magazine blog
The government is currently undertaking the biggest shake up of the UK’s welfare system in over fifty years. In the eyes of the government, the system has become mired in complexity, subject to fraud and operating to maintain people on benefit rather than in employment. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is now in force and through a series of legislative measures contained within it, Government is seeking to reduce the UK’s welfare benefit costs by £18 billion over the next five years and promote work as more beneficial than claiming benefit. Embedded in the Act are a range of measures designed to simplify, streamline and reform the payment of out-of-work, income, housing and disability related benefits; re-assess the fitness or otherwise of claimants to work; and provide employment related support.
Over the last few months the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) has been undertaking research with Manchester City Council to seek to explore the likely cumulative impacts of the welfare reforms upon individuals, groups of people, and particular geographical areas in Manchester; and also importantly to explore how local authorities and partners are responding to and seeking to minimise the impacts of welfare reform.
This briefing paper presents some of the findings of the work with Manchester City Council to help shape thoughts upon the likely impacts of welfare reform and how local authorities in particular should respond. The purpose is to provide other CLES members with an understanding of the impacts of welfare reform and how they can start to respond to the challenges it presents at a local level.
Full text (PDF 8pp)
The government is currently undertaking the biggest shake up of the UK’s welfare system in over fifty years. In the eyes of the government, the system has become mired in complexity, subject to fraud and operating to maintain people on benefit rather than in employment. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is now in force and through a series of legislative measures contained within it, Government is seeking to reduce the UK’s welfare benefit costs by £18 billion over the next five years and promote work as more beneficial than claiming benefit. Embedded in the Act are a range of measures designed to simplify, streamline and reform the payment of out-of-work, income, housing and disability related benefits; re-assess the fitness or otherwise of claimants to work; and provide employment related support.
Over the last few months the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) has been undertaking research with Manchester City Council to seek to explore the likely cumulative impacts of the welfare reforms upon individuals, groups of people, and particular geographical areas in Manchester; and also importantly to explore how local authorities and partners are responding to and seeking to minimise the impacts of welfare reform.
This briefing paper presents some of the findings of the work with Manchester City Council to help shape thoughts upon the likely impacts of welfare reform and how local authorities in particular should respond. The purpose is to provide other CLES members with an understanding of the impacts of welfare reform and how they can start to respond to the challenges it presents at a local level.
Full text (PDF 8pp)
Friday, 31 August 2012
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.
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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