Pippa MyringThe Government proposed Welfare Reform Bill, aimed at putting a cap on the amount of benefits a household can receive, was yesterday defeated in the House of Lords. The proposed £26,000 a year, or £500 a week for working age families, and £350 a week for single adults without children, benefit cap has sparked controversy and debate.
Liberal Democrats expressed opposition to the bill, including prominent figures such as Lord Ashdown, and Lord Maclennan. They argue child benefit should be excluded from the cap, as the bill, in its current form, will negatively impact families supporting several children. This could save pushing children into poverty and homelessness. Labour peers, although not opposed to the principle behind a cap, have also pushed for people who are at risk of becoming homeless to be excluded from the bill.
According to government figures, 67,000 households will lose £83 a week if the bill comes into effect. Although this may sound like a small sum of money to some, it could have a huge, detrimental effect on some of the poorest over stretched families struggling in the current economic climate.
Other well known figures, such as the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, have previously lobbied for the bill. He argues that the current welfare system is just increasing national debt. UK debt reached £1 trillion yesterday, and the UK economy shrunk by 0.2% during the last three months of 2011, sparking a reduction in growth forecasts for 2012. Lord Carey critiqued the benefit system for supporting vice as it “rewards fecklessness and irresponsibility”.
Those in favour of the reforms frequently site the fact that some families are able to claim a total of £50,000 a year in welfare benefits, more then the average national income. It has also been argued that it is not fair on the “squeezed middle” to be providing such large amount of money to support the long term unemployed. Efforts should instead be focused on encouraging people into employment. A cap on benefits would bring workless household incomes in line with the average working family income, according to policy makers.
As reported earlier this week by One&Other, York is surviving current turbulent economic times relatively well, according to the Cities Outlook 2012 report, compared with other northern cities. For those of us in York, economic growth is positive, unemployment low, welfare claimants are low, and inequality amongst residents is low, relative to other northern cities, such as Hull and Doncaster.
Statistics released by the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment is highest in the North East (12.0%), as is the benefits claimant count (7.3%). These figures suggest that northern families could be hardest hit by these reforms.
We’d love to know what your thoughts are concerning the Welfare Benefit Reform defeat, benefit cap controversy, how it would be implemented, and who it would effect.
