Choice in Welfare S.
4 primary works
Book 4
Book 27
Book 28
Book 41
In recent years there has been a huge increase in the number of people who look to politicians for the means of life. In 1950 about four per cent of the population relied on national assistance, the chief means-tested benefit. Today nearly 17 per cent of the population rely on its successor - income support. If we include other main means-tested benefits, such as housing benefit and council tax benefit, the figure rises to 27 per cent. Governments like to boast of the 'take-up' rate of certain benefits. David Green argues that the high proportion of the population dependent on benefits should be a cause of shame, not congratulation. Instead, he argues that we should publish Independence Figures to monitor the success or failure of public policy in encouraging self-reliance and responsible citizenship. Benefit Dependency is intended as the first in a series of such publications. David Green criticises many poverty professionals for persistently inflating the numbers of the 'poor' by changing the scope of the definition. Furthermore, they treat the poor as powerless victims of external forces, whose problems can only be alleviated by large cash transfers.
Instead, he argues, we need to revert to an earlier tradition of considering poverty in relation to character. This approach treats the poor as competent individuals who can escape from poverty once their enthusiasm and self-confidence are enlisted. "A devastatingly lucid pamphlet...What Dr Green has produced, in painstaking, clear-headed prose, is political dynamite. Over the past 18 years, poverty in Britain has sharply decreased ...but at the same time dependence on benefits has increased at a positively staggering rate." Daily Telegraph. "David Green ...says that a fair reading of official statistics suggests that the poorest sections of society became better off and that numbers below the poverty line fell." The Times. "Benefit Dependency...claimed that the Rowntree Foundation's influential report in 1995 was wrong to maintain that the poorest had got absolutely poorer between 1979 and 1992." Observer. "The public and academic debate about the future of welfare policy is producing many unusual and provocative contributions. But few will be as novel as this booklet from David Green." Community Care.
"David Green suggests that some 30 per cent of the population are dependent on benefits, a fact that Green argues undermines personal responsibility." New Statesman.
Instead, he argues, we need to revert to an earlier tradition of considering poverty in relation to character. This approach treats the poor as competent individuals who can escape from poverty once their enthusiasm and self-confidence are enlisted. "A devastatingly lucid pamphlet...What Dr Green has produced, in painstaking, clear-headed prose, is political dynamite. Over the past 18 years, poverty in Britain has sharply decreased ...but at the same time dependence on benefits has increased at a positively staggering rate." Daily Telegraph. "David Green ...says that a fair reading of official statistics suggests that the poorest sections of society became better off and that numbers below the poverty line fell." The Times. "Benefit Dependency...claimed that the Rowntree Foundation's influential report in 1995 was wrong to maintain that the poorest had got absolutely poorer between 1979 and 1992." Observer. "The public and academic debate about the future of welfare policy is producing many unusual and provocative contributions. But few will be as novel as this booklet from David Green." Community Care.
"David Green suggests that some 30 per cent of the population are dependent on benefits, a fact that Green argues undermines personal responsibility." New Statesman.