Benefits

  • Worries increase over winter fuel

    In a sign of challenging times ahead for the elderly, calls to an information helpline have more than trebled in recent weeks.

    Independent Age, a UK-based advisory service, say calls have increased because elderly people are worried about their bills.

    “The recent changes to Winter Fuel Payment means we are facing a crisis this winter. Since the announcement, phone calls to Independent Age’s Helpline about Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Payment worries have more than trebled.”

    It comes following a Labour government announcement that Winter Fuel Payment’s will stop for some claimants this year.

  • A new age of welfare

    In the provision of welfare a government has to make sure it doesn’t cross a line that already exists in society. It’s a difference between state-led provision and private enterprise still found in all its forms. A charity handout is one example, as well as free support and advice, and grants and funds.

    The prerogative, however, is to cover more issues than a simple need meets. The benefit eventually covers a multitude of problems that exist, in part, because of reasons in a government’s remit. It may be a school dropout, a legacy of closed industry, or an illness that takes too long to care for.

    The proper, newer age of welfare is one that takes all this into account, and more. The mere fact of someone being out of work is not the main issue anymore. The solving of problems is also not a case of social justice. It’s about an intelligent use of resources to provide further for citizens. It’s what’s at stake.

  • Welfare in an age of decline

    It’s a stark attribute of post-war theory that UK citizens should receive welfare payments. It fits a model that sympathises with a war-torn nation that needs to recover.

    It also follows along the lines of failure of industry and a sluggishness to innovate new ones. The compensation of benefits such as Universal Credit fit our narrative.

    However, the time has come to get over our remorse at large, and feel sorrow at lost time and manpower. The nation has to move on and find new ways to fund itself.

    The purpose of our lives here is at stake, and yet businesses have chosen to recruit overseas workers to fill gaps. These are roles citizens should do, but inequality widens.

    The reason is not a lacklustre attitude to work, but a failure of government to cover ground. It’s moved up, but not out. It hasn’t grasped its remit as well as it thinks.