Too posh for dosh !!

Austin_Allegro

I studied Social Policy (the legislative branch of sociology) at university a few years ago. (early 90s).

The academics were only just starting to grudgingly accept the possibility of welfare dependcy then, but the concept was viewed with great suspicion.

IMO the problem is that the policy makers in this country still live in the mental world of the 19th century. They are full of Dickens, Rowntree, 'Round about a Pound a Week', 'Tuppence to Cross the Mersey' and all that misty eyed stuff about the working poor.

They don't seem to realise that the situation has changed from one where you can't afford to stop working, to one where people can't afford to start working because of welfare dependancy.

It's a cliche but the welfare state should be a safety net, not a hammock.

The only hope is a more practical, realistic generation of social policy makers will come through, but I suspect the budget will be bust before then.

carolt

I'd love michaels' idea, I think it was, to just divvy up the pot - our family of five would get 25K back a year - lovely, but a tad unrealistic...

That said, personally I'm in favour of keeping the Child Benefit - it's not a huge amount, but saved it can - and will, I'm sure - pay for the children of the middle classes to afford university, as tuition fees continue to rise and assistance is only available to the unwaged (again) and very low waged. I don't really see it as a 'benefit' for the parents; I see it as a helping hand to the children, who will need that to fund things their parents' generation were given for free.

Plus the point others have made above, about the cost of the means testing equating to more than the money saved.

Tax credits is a different matter, though - they are so open to abuse, and fail utterly in their aim of encouraging people back to work.

Personally, I'd get rid of the whole tax credit system, and bring back the married couple's allowance for families (with adjustment to allow for comon-law marriage). Then with the money left over, I'd reduce everyone's tax bill - better encouragement back to work, IMO.

Patchwork_Quilt

How would you verify common-law marriage? Apart from that, a very good post.