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Universal credit: Failure or innovation?

Much controversy has surrounded universal credit, the flagship welfare reform of the Coalition government that comes into operation nationwide this October. The brainchild of Iain Duncan Smith, universal credit is designed to replace most existing welfare payments with a single...

Investing in childhood

Political commitment to ending child poverty isn’t what it used to be. From 2010’s dizzy heights of embedding the target to abolish child poverty by 2020 in legislation, we now find it – potentially – downgraded to a footnote in...

Labour’s way

In opposition, David Cameron re-positioned his party with a new brand of ‘compassionate Conservatism’ that could heal ‘broken Britain’. Three years into government, the record contrasts sharply with those promises.

Recently, we learned that absolute child poverty has risen sharply. The...

Decent welfare we can afford

Two myths dominate debates about welfare. First, fair social provision is desirable but we can no longer afford it, because an ageing population puts extra pressures on pensions and health and social care. Second, poverty bears most severely on low-paid...

The Inequality Boom

Howard Reed finds that the impact of the coalition’s tax and benefit measures could end being as bad for inequality as the Thatcher government’s record. Turning the tide needs to be at the heart of Labour’s strategy for government

Concern about...

'Cradle to Grave' for new times

A few days ago I heard a homeless woman say she’d ‘worked all her life’ but ended up on the streets. Perhaps she’s the tip of the iceberg. A growing number of working people are relying on food banks, working...

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