Bristol woman ‘killed herself after benefits were stopped’
A Bristol woman who suffered severe pain due to slipped discs in her back and neck has taken her own life after having her benefits stopped.
welfare reform
Rising sanctions will mean ministers blow the trumpet – but we could be forcing people through the safety net
Tom MacInnes of the New Policy Institute looks at the number of sanctions imposed on recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Major incompetence: IDS’ reforms descend into chaos
As someone who joined the Labour Party under John Major’s period as Prime Minister, I find it odd to agree with his comments on Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms.
TaxPayers’ Alliance welfare proposals save little money, but add to misery
The Taxpayers Alliance has released a new report on welfare dependency, but the proposed solutions do little to save costs and only adds to hardship.
Why ‘One Nation Social Security’ also needs a map and compass
In Ed Miliband’s speech on social security yesterday, he set out a number of ways in which the present system pays for failure: having too many people in long-term unemployment; subsidising low paid work; subsidising rents rather than building homes; and not recognising contribution.
Two cheers for Ed Miliband’s shift on welfare. He’s missing something, though
In a speech today at Newham Dockside, Ed Miliband will tackle head on the attempts to brand Labour the party of welfare, and will say that controlling social security spending and putting decent values at the heart of the system are “not conflicting priorities”.
Poorest will be hardest hit by downturn due to welfare reforms
The poor will be the hardest hit in the long-term by the economic downturn as a result of the government’s changes to the benefits system, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
Just how many families are there where three generations have ‘never worked’?
In seeking to justify the government’s reforms to the benefits system, Iain Duncan Smith has previously claimed that there exists a situation in Britain where “three generations of the same family have [often] never worked”. However all the the evidence shows what an insignificant problem “three generations of out-of-work families” are in the grand scheme of things.
Welfare reforms are cementing social tenants at the bottom of the economic pile
The picture emerging is one where social tenants are bearing the brunt of welfare reform and worsening austerity. This doesn’t quite gel with the chancellor Osborne’s claim that ‘we’re all in it together’.
Welsh Tories propose tax cut for the wealthy
The Welsh Conservatives are aping their colleagues in Westminster by calling for tax cuts for the very highest earners at a time when living standards are falling for the majority.