Welfare system

The opposition Labour Party's plans for the future of the benefits system have been clarified in two new reports. The first, by Liam Byrne (shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions), bases plans for reforming the social security system on a return to full employment. The second, published by the Labour Party to coincide with its annual conference, sets out a range of policies aimed at reforming benefits and tackling the cost of living crisis.

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.

A policy shift towards preventing 'benefit dependency' is increasingly undermining the capacity of social security systems in Europe to alleviate poverty, according to a discussion paper from researchers at Antwerp University. The paper highlights both the political and the financial pressures on social transfer arrangements.

Governments in Europe and the US need to re-examine the effectiveness of tax and benefit systems in redistributing income among the working-age population, says a research paper from the OECD in Paris. Redistribution measures have in the past cut income inequalities by more in Europe than in the US: but governments on both sides of the Atlantic need to look closely at how well these measures function over the whole economic cycle.