9 After a decade of austerity, does the UK have an income safety net worth its name?
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Donald Hirsch
Abstract
This chapter explores the evolution of the level of benefits entitlement of different UK families and whether these are enough to meet minimum needs. It uses the Minimum Income Standard, a family-specific budget derived by iterative group discussions between people from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, supplemented by selective inputs from nutrition, domestic, and transportation experts. Since 2010, safety net benefits have declined but pensioners’ entitlements are much closer to what they need (just over 90 per cent). This ties into the widespread perception that pensioners have been protected from the worst effects of austerity. On average, families with children get slightly over half and singles without children only a third. The chapter concludes that although the UK’s safety net benefits have never maintained a systematic link with need, they have recently become less adequate and more arbitrary. It provides a strong case for strengthening the link between basic household needs and government safety net benefits.
Abstract
This chapter explores the evolution of the level of benefits entitlement of different UK families and whether these are enough to meet minimum needs. It uses the Minimum Income Standard, a family-specific budget derived by iterative group discussions between people from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, supplemented by selective inputs from nutrition, domestic, and transportation experts. Since 2010, safety net benefits have declined but pensioners’ entitlements are much closer to what they need (just over 90 per cent). This ties into the widespread perception that pensioners have been protected from the worst effects of austerity. On average, families with children get slightly over half and singles without children only a third. The chapter concludes that although the UK’s safety net benefits have never maintained a systematic link with need, they have recently become less adequate and more arbitrary. It provides a strong case for strengthening the link between basic household needs and government safety net benefits.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- Notes on contributors vii
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Race, racism and social policy
- Race and social policy: challenges and obstacles 5
- ‘Race’: the missing dimension in social policy higher education? 25
- Young people as cultural critics of the monocultural landscapes that fail them 51
- Returnees: unwanted citizens or cherished countrymen 71
-
Social policy and young people
- The family welfare source and inequality in liberal welfare states: evidence from cohort studies 97
- Economic hardship in young adulthood: a cause for concern or a matter of course while settling into the Swedish labour market? 135
- Cultural education and the good citizen: a systematic analysis of a neoliberal communitarian policy trend 163
- How geographical and ideological proximity impact community youth justice (in)accessibility in England and Wales 183
-
Austerity
- After a decade of austerity, does the UK have an income safety net worth its name? 211
- A new page? The public library in austerity 227
- No way home: the challenges of exiting homelessness in austere times 249
- ‘Everywhere and nowhere’: interventions and services under austerity 271
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- Notes on contributors vii
-
Race, racism and social policy
- Race and social policy: challenges and obstacles 5
- ‘Race’: the missing dimension in social policy higher education? 25
- Young people as cultural critics of the monocultural landscapes that fail them 51
- Returnees: unwanted citizens or cherished countrymen 71
-
Social policy and young people
- The family welfare source and inequality in liberal welfare states: evidence from cohort studies 97
- Economic hardship in young adulthood: a cause for concern or a matter of course while settling into the Swedish labour market? 135
- Cultural education and the good citizen: a systematic analysis of a neoliberal communitarian policy trend 163
- How geographical and ideological proximity impact community youth justice (in)accessibility in England and Wales 183
-
Austerity
- After a decade of austerity, does the UK have an income safety net worth its name? 211
- A new page? The public library in austerity 227
- No way home: the challenges of exiting homelessness in austere times 249
- ‘Everywhere and nowhere’: interventions and services under austerity 271
- Index 291
