Welfare Failure
Before the 1997 election, Gordon Brown set out his vision of a modern welfare state that would ‘move people from welfare to work.’ Yet after a decade in power, there is still high youth unemployment and a higher number of Incapacity Benefit claimants.
It is depressing that even in substantially rural areas, such as the East of England, the statistics are so horrifying. The most recent Government figures show that in May last year, 35,390 under 35s were claiming incapacity benefits or Severe Disablement Allowance in the East of England. This is greater than the number of young people claiming unemployment benefits in the East of England which stands at 30,410.
Last month, other statistics showed that 41% of New Deal for Young People (NDYP) participants in Suffolk return to receive jobseekers allowance after leaving NDYP within one year, while 25% have returned immediately.
Welfare dependency lowers a person’s self confidence and the desire to get a job, often resulting in low self esteem and low self worth. I have been touched and moved by constituents who have come to see me in my advice centres whose lives have been marred by this. Of course those with serious mental or physical problems cannot work - that is understood – but there are so many others who should be doing so. It is in people’s own personal interests, as well as the taxpayer, that those who are capable of working should do so.
The failure to reform our growing welfare state has been deeply damaging. The Government must recognise that despite tax increases and various redistributive policies, its welfare reform agenda has failed. The Government is clearly not appropriately helping people get back to work.
It is now time to address this problem in a different way, and the political mood is now conducive to doing so.
Robert said on May 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 am:
Before my accident and disability even through Thatchers years i worked, I left home and found a job, the job was rubbish the pay was a joke. But I enjoyed the job later on I worked for major building companies until one day I had a fall broke my back and ended up struggling to cope.
I’ve been part of the New Deal and now the Pathways to work, and both are the biggest waste of money, everything is done to make me work, nothing is done to get employers to employ me.
Labour have said it’s a companies duty as social justice for companies to look at disabled people, while the government themselves close down the employment of the disabled, I was to be employed at a benefits office along with four others, we did the training passed the exams and the benefits office was closed.
Labour now says it’s up to private companies to take the strain, well they are not willing to do this without the government covering the loss, because never in a million years will I make money for a company.
5.30am I rise with help from my wife, Then she puts a catheter into my bladder, then she helps me empty my bowels this takes about two hours, now then I will mostly vomit due mainly to the drugs and the pain, 9am I will get dressed get my wheelchair ready for the day, have an injection of morphine to control the pain, which puts me out for an hour wake up have something to eat take all my medication this is now 10.30.
I do this seven days a week every day of the year, who is going to employ me.
The sad fact is Labour has no idea what real disability is about