Reforming Welfare

I had a flick through the UK report, Reforming Welfare, yesterday, looking for any comparative NZ data. This is all I found and it's from 2002 which devalues its usefulness.

Anyway, Maxim have done a good job summarising the report as follows;

REPORT STRENGTHENS THE CASE FOR WELFARE REFORM IN UK

The already compelling case for welfare reform in the United Kingdom grew stronger recently, with the ballooning of government dependency continuing, and the release of a new report by the think tank Reform.

Reforming Welfare examines the current state of the British welfare system, showing that while spending on welfare is "colossal", the state of beneficiaries is getting worse, and the poverty trap only deeper. The British government spent £79 billion on welfare during 2005, supporting an estimated 14 percent of the working age population. At the same time, the number of government benefits has ballooned from seven in 1948 to 51 today.

The Times reported recently that under the British equivalent of New Zealand's "Working for Families" scheme, even those in the richest fifth of households are in receipt of government benefits. The paper reported that a third of the scheme's expenditure goes to the richest 50 percent of homes. It appears that more and more people are lining up for help they may not even need.

But although the welfare budget sucks more and more cash from the public purse, it delivers little in return. Reforming Welfare states that outcomes such as inequality and poverty are only getting worse, with many poorer regions worse off than 20 years ago. The report argues that the moral, social and economic consequences of welfare dependency are crippling, tracing the gradual historical shift from local structures aimed at preserving independence to the modern welfare state with its central bureaucracy and endless paperwork.

Setting the debate in much-needed context, the report lays down a tough and important challenge New Zealand cannot ignore. A welfare state which breeds a culture of entitlement is neither sustainable nor wise. As a country, we must do better when it comes to those left behind.