It is usually politicians of the left who are accused of letting welfare spending get "out of control", but now seems a good time to look at just when it was that welfare spending began to take off as a percentage of GDP.
It’s usually politicians of the left who are accused of letting welfare spending get “out of control”; but now seems a good time to look at just when it was that welfare spending began to take off as a percentage of GDP.
The first graph shows total welfare spending (including spending on benefits for the unemployed, the disabled, those with children, housing benefit, social protection) whereas the second graph shows welfare spending as a percentage of GDP. In essence, the welfare bill has never recovered from Margaret Thatcher’s mass lay-offs of the 1980s – although as a percentage of GDP it did come down significantly under the last Labour government before climbing again during the banking crash.
31 Responses to “If welfare spending is out of control the governments of Margaret Thatcher are to blame”
Sparky
James Bloodworth, are you blind? Graph two peaks just after 1980 and trends down.
Mason Dixon Autistic
It is entirely appropriate to criticise the policies of Thatcher and her government(you will note the article lacks any person comment about her) when on the day of her death, the legacy is being glossed over. There is respect and there is sycophancy. Her detractors do not show respect by descending into the same sycophancy as the mainstream media; that would be insincerity. The lady that was so hated diminished long ago because of Dementia; nothing nasty should have been directed at her in life or death, but the actions and judgement of Thatcher the Prime Minister is not out of bounds by any stretch.
Ash
That second graph is pretty jaw-dropping given the current hysteria over ‘unsustainable’, ‘out-of-control’ welfare spending. And both graphs make clear that the discretionary increase in welfare spending from around 2002-2006 – reflecting the introduction of tax credits, I imagine – was pretty modest. The recent spike undoubtedly reflects the impact of the recession. Proof if proof were needed that the Tories are using what could and should have been the temporary effects of an economic crisis to justify permanent changes to the welfare state.
Soylent
It is dangerous to leave her supporters to have a week-long unopposed slime fest of unabridged fawning and adulation for the evil crone.
That’s what happened to the genocidal monster Reagan.
Stephen Latham
I don’t think the second graph supports this claim. Welfare seems to have reduced in relation to GDP for most of the period of Thatchers premiership, except the first few years. Same under Major.