JJ |
October 19, 2013 |
10:23 pm |
18 comments

GROWING numbers of the public are worried the benefits system no longer provides a safety net for those most in need.

As in-work poverty becomes increasingly prevalent, new research released to coincide with Challenge Poverty Week shows growing numbers of the general public are worried the UK benefits system is not fit for purpose.

Ruthless cuts to welfare under the coalition government mean only 22% now believe social security would provide them with adequate support if they lost their job, according to the report by the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland.

The group says the current debate about social security is failing ordinary Scottish families and believes government policy is increasingly at odds with the majority of the public.

CPAG Scotland revealed the findings as it launched its People Like Us campaign which is calling for the rejection of stereotypes of benefit claimants and for a new debate around welfare.

The poll also found only 32% believed the benefits system would support them adequately were they to have a child and only 30% if they were to become ill or disabled.

The research reflects a shifting attitude to the way people view those on benefits and shows that previously hard-line attitudes are mellowing.

It reflects this year’s British Social Attitudes Survey where 51% said benefits were too high, down sharply from 62% in 2011.

John Dickie, head of CPAG in Scotland, said government policy on benefits cuts was not being backed by the majority view and were only stereotyping claimants as undeserving.

He added: “There is an immediate need for policies that promote jobs, tackle low pay, promote affordable housing and childcare and help families with the added costs of children.

Sheila Gilmore, Edinburgh East MP

“Instead of focusing on scaremongering and negative stereotyping the UK government needs to take action to ensure that there is a safety net in place for families when they lose their jobs, become disabled or have a child.”

It comes as more than 70 charities, including Oxfam, The Children’s Society, MacMillan Cancer Support, RNIB and Carers UK, joined forces to call for more for support people claiming benefits.

The Who Benefits? campaign is also being supported by a range of politicians including Sheila Gilmore, Edinburgh East MP.

It will give a voice to people who claim benefits after a survey of almost 2,000 adults in Britain found that 81% supported the idea of a benefits system that acted as a safety net for people when they needed it.

The survey also found that more than a quarter of people who had claimed benefits had hidden it because of what people might think.

John Downie, director of public affairs for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said people feared the security offered by the welfare system was being eroded.

“Despite the mistruths and scaremongering being peddled by the UK government, there’s no escaping the fact that many people who rely on benefits do so to compensate for low pay or to help them cope with the unexpected challenges life can throw at us.

“People want to have a benefits system that provides a safety net for everyone when they need it most and these results show that people won’t sit back and let the government destroy our benefits system.”

Third Force News Scotland

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18 Responses

  2. The Situation in this Country Takes the Piss

    Politicians have a Lot to Answer For

    No to anymore Rich Peoples Government and Rebuild the
    Welfare State

    Tax the Rich Hands Off the Poor

    Better Socialism than Capitalist Slavery

  3. I guess you can’t say that an ex soldier is undeserving can you? that might seem a bit ungrateful what with him having served queen and country. But how do we know that others are undeserving? An ex cleaner, or nurse, or painter or hairdresser or refuse collector or truck driver or banker or someone who never even got a go yet? Who should live on next to nothing? who should lose their home? Who should be called a sciver and shamed for being poor and workless, or ill or disabled who deserves that? Feeling shunned by society and being poor and cold and hungry and wondering how long you can hold on to your home is a pretty awful way to live. Having no money for a social life and having no work where you might meet people is hard and lonely. No money for winter shoes or a warm coat, never mind a day out or a holiday. It’s breaking people. Broken people don’t just mend when the economy picks up. Some one needs to pick them up. Shame on the privilaged educated government for ignoring the simple facts of life. Abraham Mazlow in 1943 introduced his hierarchy of needs for people. from the basic need to food and warmth and shelter, right through to their spiritual and creative needs. People need food shelter warmth, security, they need to belong, be approved of, have self esteem, without fulfilling the basics a person cannot fully realise themselves. I reckon that every person needs the chance to realise themselves and when society fails to help them even realise the basics, we risk breaking people. How do we mend them? Do we even want to try? With all the cuts in mental health services too it seem not.

  4. Both Totalitarianism and Nihilism are Things which Must
    be Opposed

    Whilst a Government should Not be Tyrannical and use it’s
    Powers For Evil as a Consequence Neither should Society
    be Nihilistic with a Knuckleheaded Mentality of ” Do what I
    want to Do ” such as Throwing Dog’s from Windows Leaving
    Broken Glass about or being a Loud Music Lout

    Both Cause Misery and Suffering when Benevolent Government
    and A Moral Society Help toward’s a Better Quality of Life

  7. When are we going to stop complying with these false concepts? It is not BECAUSE he is an ex-serviceman that he deserves justice. It is not BECAUSE he is homeless he should be exempt. The Bedroom Tax is a malicious charade. It is totally wrong to withhold money from people who are already contracted to paying that money to someone else to keep their home (not house). There are numerous ways to improve the efficiency of the housing requirements of this country without this sort of thinly veiled excuse for bullying. The ‘under occupancy penalty’ or better named ‘Bedroom Tax’ is an abomination and MUST be scrapped. Damn it – even the UN regard it as a breach of Human Rights. So can we rephrase the conversation? “The Bedroom Tax is simply unacceptable.”

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