The Transformation of British Welfare Policy

Since 2010, the IFS estimates that the poorest 10% of UK families have lost 20% of their income - for context, the kind of reduction more commonly associated with the immediate impact of war or natural disaster. There is increasing academic evidence that there is a causal relationship between the radical reform of the benefits system and increasing indebtedness, homelessness and foodbank usage.  

O'Grady's book explores the political question of why: why did we end up with Universal Credit in its contemporary form and how did the UK government garner sufficient public support for a system that arguably criminalises poverty? The book argues that a long-term change in discourse from both politicians and the media can be traced back to the 1990s, which cultivated a public mood that turned against the welfare system and its recipients by 2010. 

YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://youtu.be/Cw4KG9pkmIE

The book demonstrates a clear change in media representations of welfare recipients and public attitudes towards welfare recipients: previously perceived as deserving, recipients of welfare benefits were increasingly framed as distinct from the "decent hardworking majority that pay their dues" and presented as a deviant, fradulent and lazy minority that refuse to reciprocate their end of an existing social bargain with taxpayers, and thus may require political monitoring, sanctioning and controlling. O'Grady contends there is a clear line that can be traced from the increasing vilifying discourse and institutional practices later encoded in the organisation and implementation of the benefits system. 

O'Grady argues that any government committed to reforming the welfare system for the better must rhetorically blur the line between "taxpayers" and "recipients" - and policy designers must develop a system that is seen to give something to everyone, rather than something for nothing.

A video recording of the book launch, generously hosted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), may be found below. The panel discussants for the book launch were Polly Toynbee (columnist at the Guardian), Frank Soodeen (Director of Communications & Public Engagement, Joseph Rowntree Foundation), Rebecca Rennison (Principal Policy Manager for Families, Welfare and Work, Citizens Advice) and was chaired by Harry Quilter-Pinner (Director of Research and Engagement, IPPR).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw4KG9pkmIE