Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Throwing money at the problem of poverty

Frank Field:

"Over recent decades, the Left and centre-Left’s answer to poverty and inequality has been to spend more money, to redistribute from richer to poorer. Yet this central social democratic ideal is being tested to the point of destruction...Few people would argue that the solution to the complex social and economic problems Britain faces is even higher spending. "

Yeah, only a few crazy Left wing people would argue for spending more money on tackling poverty! Crazy Left wing people, like, um...

Tory Secretary of State Iain Duncan Smith's Dynamic Benefits Report:

"The change in benefit withdrawal rates, earnings, and employment resulting from these proposals would increase the total annual benefits bill by £3.6 billion."

Right-wing think tank Policy Exchange:

"People on welfare should be incentivised to take up work by raising the ‘disregard’ (the
amount of money that someone is allowed to earn before they start losing benefits) to
£92.80 for all benefits. This would mean that anyone on the minimum wage who works for
16 hours keeps everything that they earn. This would give over 2.8 million people a better
reason to work.

Raising the disregard would cost £5.1 billion."

And, er, Frank Field:

"A welfare reform bill that looks forwards instead of backwards would centre on two measures. Large numbers of citizens with impeccable work records are going to be sacked. They will then find out that their continuous National Insurance contributions gives them a princely £60.50 a week benefit. That is precisely the sum an individual gets who has never worked.

A relevant welfare reform bill would lay the basis for linking the size of this contributory JSA to a claimant's work record. Somebody who has worked continuously for five years would get double the payment and somebody, for example, working ten years would see the insurance benefit tripled."

Whether it's spending £3.6 billion more on giving unemployment benefits to people who are working from Iain Duncan Smith, paying £92.80 in benefits to everyone working 16 hours on the minimum wage from Policy Exchange, or paying some unemployed people more than £180 per week in Jobseekers' Allowance from Frank Field, the principle that reducing unemployment and poverty requires more spending isn't even controversial, and has been accepted on the Right just as on the Left.

It is a bit troubling that the government's new star adviser on poverty doesn't seem to have realised this.

4 Comments:

At 4:20 pm , Anonymous Anonymous said...

a Labour MP arguing against wealth redistribution? I was amazed to see Field had nominated John McDonnell in the leadership election ,I assume this was tongue in cheek?

 
At 5:33 pm , Anonymous Anonymous said...

If i work for 15 hours it's not sixteen it has to be under sixteen hours I do not lose any benefits anyway. but you can only do it for a year, you then have to beg the Job center to allow you to do it again, either way if it's a year of two, you then have to have three months away before you can start again.

The problem is still the same, it's not that I do not want to work, it's getting employers to give me a go.

This is what happens when I go to my job center and say I like to work 15 hours a week, they say oh sorry you have to sort that out your self it's not something we are interested in.

Look I use a wheelchair or crutches, the medical term for my disability is Partial spinal lesion of the L5 leading to Paraplegia.

I lost the use of bowel bladder all sexual function I was 35 years of age, I fell 45ft landing on my feet, when I looked down the bones had come through the side of my legs.

I spent eighteen months in hospital under going many major operations getting MRSA on three occasions.

I was working on the Monday my company sacked me on the Tuesday after the accident, they then did everything possible to say it was my own fault, but the judge said they had used all types of claims to get off , from what was obviously an error of judgment by management.

But once i came out I had another year fighting to get my self off Morphine, once i stopped using the pain killers I had a number of fits and then a stroke, this was caused by the pain over powering, and they had to implant a Morphine pump into my stomach.

So as you can see I'm not a scrounger or work shy.

Since 1996 I've filled out 800 applications forms over seen by the job center, and I had three replies one reply told me to F.O we do not need more spastics, this company apologized sacking the manager who sent this message, but still no interview.

I've knocked on doors, I've sat in offices waiting to see Managers until they said sorry we are going home. I've written letters applications even gone on BBC TV and radio.

The simple problem for me I'm disabled and people do not want me.

Blair once said that companies need to have a social conscious, they need to see what they can do to help the people who want to work, which is fine if the world is doing fine, Asda takes on cripples when the going is good and then gets rid of them when times are hard, it's nature.

The fact is of course where are the jobs for the people who are not lying or cheating and believe me I'd love to work, the employers that I would have worked at the NHS, are not employing anyone.

But hell I suspect I'll get comments about doing the right think and ending my life, believe me I've tried that as well.


Robert

 
At 6:17 am , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh yes do not forget ESA the new benefit is now 87.26

They cut it, why I've no idea cuts maybe....

 
At 12:49 pm , Blogger Luis Enrique said...

Don,

you might find this really interesting:

Social Spending and Poverty

 

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