Benefits

Some signs of a softening in public attitudes to benefits and the welfare state have been detected in the latest British Social Attitudes Survey report, which is published each year by the National Centre for Social Research. The annual survey shows a fall in the number of people thinking that benefit levels are too high, and a rise in those thinking that benefit cuts are doing too much harm. 

At the same time a report from the Demos think tank, drawing on on the survey data, has examined the longer-term decline in support for the welfare state – particularly among the younger generation.

The coalition government’s benefit reforms are plunging into 'chaos', according to Liam Byrne, Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary. In a speech in London he said the so-called 'welfare revolution' promised by the coalition was clearly in 'very, very serious trouble'. He pointed to failed reform of disability benefits, ineffective back-to-work programmes and looming problems over the bedroom tax. He claimed that complaints, delays and additional claimant numbers caused by bungled benefit changes had so far cost the public purse £1.4 billion.

Fewer than one out of every four people receiving benefits will be in a position to offset cuts in their income by finding work or moving to cheaper accommodation, a new study has concluded.

The report was produced by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion on behalf of the Local Government Association. It describes the cumulative impact of all the main benefit changes announced by the coalition government since May 2010, and apportions them to each English local authority area. It then considers what action is available to offset their effects – either by the individuals and families affected or by local council support services.

A BBC television programme about the benefits system, presented by John Humphrys, breached the corporation's own rules on impartiality and accuracy, the BBC Trust has ruled in response to a complaint from the Child Poverty Action Group.

The programme, called 'The Future of the Welfare State', was broadcast on BBC2 in October 2011. Along with an accompanying article by Humphrys in the Daily Mail, the programme heavily emphasised the view that a 'benefits dependency' culture has grown up, with significant numbers of people 'perfectly happy' to remain out of work and living off benefits. As Humphrys put it in his article: 'Beveridge tried to slay the fifth evil giant and, in the process, helped to create a different sort of monster in its place: the age of entitlement'.