Would a welfare reform help Ben and Rachel?
March 2nd, 2010 by Robin Hood
Posted in: In the UK, Why we need Robin
Rachel and Ben have three children aged 13, 10 and 8. Like all kids they can be handful but things are especially tough for this couple.
Their two younger children are autistic with severe learning disabilities.
Ben gave up his job when their second child was diagnosed seven years ago as the children needed 24-hour care:
“I had a really good job me. I was earning £500/600 a week, good pay. Good bonus, really good pension scheme and I just had to give it all up. I had been there 21 years.”
The family home was repossessed and they had to move into a council house and are totally reliant on benefits. Daily life is a struggle due mainly to the extra costs of their children’s disabilities.
They say that the only reason they get by is because of the children’s disability living allowance (DLA).
Of those millions in poverty in this country, there is pretty much a 50/50 split between those in working and in non-working households – so the solutions are not clear-cut or one-dimensional.
One of the biggest culprits of keeping people in poverty is the very thing that was set up to keep people out of poverty – the benefit system. It traps people where they are, and means that the move into work costs too much.
For example, the Centre for Social Justice’s (CSJ) recent research concluded that it is common for people going in to work from benefits to keep a quarter or less of what they earn.
So, how could a Robin Hood Tax help? Well, there are a few issues that meaningful benefit reform needs to tackle, which include:
- The low paid jobs that tend to be available to people coming off benefits often pays only marginally more – and occasionally even less – than being on benefits.
- Cash flow problems between benefits stopping and wages being paid, or vice versa.
- Non-financial costs and the challenges of moving to work. This may include difficulties and costs in meeting caring responsibilities.
The Robin Hood Tax could help to make work accessible and affordable by paying for a reform of the welfare system.
One recent estimate costed at £2.7 billion. This would could be raised in a day and a half.
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