Britain is in a poverty crisis. Over 14 million people (one in five) are living in poverty. Of these, 4 million, including 1 million children, are classed as destitute: regularly unable to meet basic needs for shelter, warmth, food and clothing.
Cuts to the welfare state over the last decade have contributed to a deepening of poverty in Britain not seen in any of its European neighbours. What sets Britain apart (and has made it possible for these cuts to continue) is the intense stigma placed on people living in poverty and who receive state benefits.
Stigma sorts people into two categories “the deserving” and “the undeserving”. Elderly (pension-aged) citizens, children and disabled people have tended to fall into the deserving category, while people deemed able-bodied and hence able to work are viewed more harshly if they receive support.
This has been seen throughout this election campaign, in discussions about getting people back into work. Rishi Sunak has said that the Conservatives intend to cut the welfare bill by getting people into work. In the last debate, he said it was “not fair” for people on benefits to not take a job they are offered after 12 months out of work. The implication here is that some people who receive benefits are cheating the system.
That is so heart breaking. It is okay to need help. Its okay to help eachother.
22 million people in the UK receive benefits. At some point we are better off moving to a UBI system.
Benefits that disappear when you start work just disincentivise work. The system needs a change and doesn’t seem to be working. Need something like tax breaks for businesses in areas with high unemployment. Or business that want to hire cheap exploited immigrants should be encouraged to first expand to areas that need jobs.
Welcome to amerikka. What I mean is, the allied nations had a choice, and made it after WW2. Europe went one way, the USA another. We have exported* our “freedoms” to you. We have shown our true hand,* at home and abroad. Ball is in your court. I’d say now is your defining moment. Choose wisely, you are approaching the event horizon.
- Edited for autocorrect
Britain sold it’s empire and everything in it for cheap to the Americans all the while american manufacturing grew while Europe got destroyed.
WW2 was the best thing that ever happen to the Americans.
“When population is high and income low, there’s another war,” was the way of it. My child is over thirty and has never known a time America wasn’t at war. Also about to clean up the post you responded to. AI autocorrect is rubbish.
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Not everything is about the US.
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Saying “amerikka” unironically makes you come across as an edgy 14-year-old.
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Look at your own policies and how they were shaped and why they were instituted. Or what happened to the world’s economy when the US economy was in trouble. You don’t have to like it. I don’t like it. Ignoring facts doesn’t change them.
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Perhaps you might look into the origin of that spelling, or what Hitler’s policies regarding certain races were modeled after.
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