Nobody wins from the broken welfare system in the long run – we owe those it traps to fix it
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall leaves Downing Street after revealing her plans for the disabled benefits cuts (Credit: Cristina Massei/Alamy Live News)
4 min read
Last week, I met the parents of a young woman living independently, albeit with epilepsy and learning difficulties, who wants to do well in life.
Until the pandemic she worked for nine years in a care home, but lost her job during that time. Since then, she has not been able to get back into that field despite many attempts and interviews. Her parents believe that employers are unable to see beyond her disabilities.
The social security system is not working for this woman. It should be bending over backwards to help her find a suitable job. A malaise has set in, and we need a more proactive system that focuses on changing lives for the better. Our social security system needs an injection of energy, and my hope is that the Pathways to Work green paper will begin to address these priorities head on.
There are households who work hard... They tell me that Labour has gained a reputation over time as the party for people on benefits
The uncomfortable truth is that, in communities like the one where I live, there are some areas where dependency on benefits has become multigenerational – families living in poverty topped up by forays into the black market. Their children are brought up to follow the same pattern, their aspirations severely limited as a result. These are patterns that were established when the pits and big industry closed down with nothing put in to replace them.
At the same time, in the same places, there are households who work hard, stretching their budgets to pay the bills, leaving little for a weekend away or the savings pot for their old age. They look on those living on benefits living down the street, and there is a great sense of anger and unfairness because they see how the system is failing them. They tell me that Labour has gained a reputation over time as the party for people on benefits. My response is that Labour, from its origins, exists as the party for the people who work in well-paid, high-skilled jobs. Labour must be true to its values, and I welcome that the government is rising to the challenge.
Some parts of the social security system are broken, spending on disability or incapacity benefit has risen sharply over the past decade and is set to rise from £65bn to £100bn by the end of the decade. Whilst spending in other European countries on their benefits bill has dropped since Covid, the opposite has happened in the UK.
Benefit fraud is rife, with fraudsters costing the taxpayer £7bn last year. The crackdown on this has already started with the Fraud Bill which is making its way through Parliament currently.
What is going wrong is there for all of us to see. An NHS broken by over 14 years of underinvestment by the previous Conservative government, where access to mental health treatment is often over 18 months long, with access often reliant on postcode or if you can afford it yourself. The wait for muscular skeletal treatment, such as a knee replacement operation, has recently been identified as a causal factor for people being out of work in my Bassetlaw constituency.
Any savings from the projected reforms must be spent on fixing our NHS to bring down the waiting lists with fast access to mental health support. Support needs to be realigned with a focus on assisting those with disabilities or long-term illness back into the workplace. This should range from employers making reasonable adjustments, from flexible hours to improved access, to phasing re-entry to make the path back into work as smooth as possible.
Putting a wage on the table is the road to people lifting themselves out of poverty, to widen horizons, to raise self-belief and a sense of wellbeing and pride.
Jo White is Labour MP for Bassetlaw
