The Future of Welfare

Why do you think the government today feels it needs to reform welfare? (In particular, social security/benefits) A debt crisis, an ageing population and a belief that a dependency culture has taken hold over many in the country are all reasons put forward by the coalition

Changes to Child Benefit (updated from time the book was published) Used to be a universal benefit Since January 2013, if someone in the house earns more than £50,000 they have to pay tax on child benefit on a sliding scale If someone earns more than £60,000, there is no child benefit at all

Changes to welfare Read the case study and fact file both found on page 40 1)Give evidence to back up the view of the coalition that benefits are in need of being reformed Now read “No country for the disabled and ill’ on page 42 2) How are the government trying to reduce the number of people on Employment and Support Allowance? 3) What criticisms have been made of these attempts?

Do we really have a dependency culture in this country that needs tackled or are the government using this as an excuse to lay the blame of societies ills at the feet of the poor? Discussion question

‘The Future of Welfare’ DVD Watch the BBC documentary Look for evidence under the following heading Arguments that welfare needs to be reformed

Welfare Reform Debate Watch the following video clip and take down the arguments both in favour of and against the government’s welfare reform.video clip

Conclusion The government believes welfare needs to be reformed due to spiralling costs that the country can no longer afford and a growing dependency culture However critics of the reforms argue that the welfare reforms will push many more people into poverty and argue that more needs to be done to make work more attractive It would be hard to argue that the government can meet the original aims of the welfare state to a full extent (even Beveridge would have conceded that) However whether or not the government could do more to try and meet them is something that is up for debate

Homework Take a copy of the homework sheet It would be wise to not attempt the essay until we have covered the revision lesson in class