Broken benefits : what's gone wrong with welfare reform / Sam Royston.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Royston, Sam, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public welfare--Great Britain.

Public welfare.

Welfare recipients--Employment.

Great Britain.

Welfare recipients--Employment--Great Britain.

Welfare recipients.

Physical Description:

xii, 387 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Policy Press, 2017.

Summary:

Britain is going through the most radical upheaval of the benefits system since its foundations were laid at the end of the 1940s. In Broken benefits, Sam Royston argues that social security isn't working, and without a change in direction it will be even less fair in the future. This much-needed book provides an introductory guide to social security, correcting misunderstandings and exposing poorly understood problems. It reveals how some workers pay to take on extra hours; how those who pay National Insurance contributions may get nothing in return; and how some families can be paid to split apart. Broken benefits presents practical ideas for how social security should be reformed, to create a fairer, simpler and more coherent system. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Introducing the benefits system 1

1 Introduction 2

2 The makings of a 'British revolution': A brief history of benefits 12

3 What are benefits for? 25

Part II Mapping it all out - The mechanics of the benefits system 39

4 Benefit entitlements for people with no other income or savings 42

5 Contribution-based benefit entitlements for people with no other income or savings 66

6 How support changes on moving into work 75

Part III A thousand cuts 101

7 A freeze is as good as a cut 103

8 'Unlimited' welfare 112

9 Welfare reform and the 'family test' 122

10 Cuts to Employment and Support Allowance and the 'limited capability for work' component of Universal Credit 134

11 Triple locked? Benefits for pensioners 144

12 Welfare that works? The 'old' system 153

13 Welfare that works? Universal Credit 163

14 Contribution-based benefits: The great insurance scam 183

Part IV Chaos, error and misjudgements - Payments and administration in the benefits system 195

15 Reasons to be fearful?: Assessing sickness and disability 197

16 'Chaos, error and misjudgement': The administration of Tax Credits and Universal Credit 215

17 Sanctions 223

18 Local benefits, local choices 236

19 Making 'older people' older: Changes in the pension age 248

Part V The 'new settlement' - Benefits in 2020 259

20 Understanding the 'low tax, low welfare' economy 261

21 The social impact of moving to a 'low welfare' economy 279

Part VI Better benefits 301

22 Preventing poverty and destitution 303

23 A system that responds to household need 315

24 Supporting 'socially desirable' behaviours 325

25 Simplicity from the claimant's perspective 337

26 Conclusion 346.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781447333265

1447333268

OCLC:

1011595799