Monday 19 September 2011
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Government moves towards new monthly benefit system
Many benefits are to be paid less frequently, it was announced today, in a move ministers say will better prepare jobless claimants for the world of work.
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith wants the new Universal Credit to be delivered monthly, replacing mainly fortnightly payments.
The change is part of a raft of extra detail about the implementation of a major shake-up of the system being unveiled as the House of Lords starts to examine the legislation.
It is likely to further inflame opposition to the cost-cutting crackdown being planned by the coalition in an effort to slash £5.5 billion from the welfare bill in real terms over four years.
The legislation's centrepiece is the creation of a new universal credit to replace a complex range of existing payments such as child tax credit, housing benefit and income support.
It also imposes tougher sanctions on people who refuse work and replaces the disability living allowance with a new personal independence payment.
Serious opposition
Parts of the package have sparked serious opposition from disability groups, childcare campaigners and anti-poverty experts who claim many vulnerable people will be among the worst hit.
The Children's Society warned recently that a planned cap on the total benefits households can claim could make more than 80,000 children homeless and push many thousands more into poverty.
That came after evidence emerged of concern at a very senior level within the Department of Communities and Local Government that the move risked making 40,000 families homeless.
The Government says the aim of the Welfare Reform Bill is to "make work pay" and clamp down hard on benefit cheats, a cause Prime Minister David Cameron has personally championed.
He highlighted the changes as one of the means to tackle the causes of the recent riots in London and other English cities, suggesting they could be furthered toughened.
"With 75% of people in work being paid monthly, ministers believe it is sensible that benefits are paid in the same manner, helping claimants to get used to managing their money and bills over a four week basis to smooth the transition into work," a DWP spokesman says.
The change is likely to prove unpopular however, with experts suggesting many people are paid weekly or fortnightly and questioning whether low-income families will cope.
Writing in the Guardian last week Ruth Lister, emeritus professor of social policy at Loughborough University, said: "Research shows that many low-income families already struggle to manage inadequate budgets. To be required to do so on a monthly basis will only make it harder."
Written by the Press Association
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith wants the new Universal Credit to be delivered monthly, replacing mainly fortnightly payments.
The change is part of a raft of extra detail about the implementation of a major shake-up of the system being unveiled as the House of Lords starts to examine the legislation.
It is likely to further inflame opposition to the cost-cutting crackdown being planned by the coalition in an effort to slash £5.5 billion from the welfare bill in real terms over four years.
The legislation's centrepiece is the creation of a new universal credit to replace a complex range of existing payments such as child tax credit, housing benefit and income support.
It also imposes tougher sanctions on people who refuse work and replaces the disability living allowance with a new personal independence payment.
Serious opposition
Parts of the package have sparked serious opposition from disability groups, childcare campaigners and anti-poverty experts who claim many vulnerable people will be among the worst hit.
The Children's Society warned recently that a planned cap on the total benefits households can claim could make more than 80,000 children homeless and push many thousands more into poverty.
That came after evidence emerged of concern at a very senior level within the Department of Communities and Local Government that the move risked making 40,000 families homeless.
The Government says the aim of the Welfare Reform Bill is to "make work pay" and clamp down hard on benefit cheats, a cause Prime Minister David Cameron has personally championed.
He highlighted the changes as one of the means to tackle the causes of the recent riots in London and other English cities, suggesting they could be furthered toughened.
"With 75% of people in work being paid monthly, ministers believe it is sensible that benefits are paid in the same manner, helping claimants to get used to managing their money and bills over a four week basis to smooth the transition into work," a DWP spokesman says.
The change is likely to prove unpopular however, with experts suggesting many people are paid weekly or fortnightly and questioning whether low-income families will cope.
Writing in the Guardian last week Ruth Lister, emeritus professor of social policy at Loughborough University, said: "Research shows that many low-income families already struggle to manage inadequate budgets. To be required to do so on a monthly basis will only make it harder."
Written by the Press Association
Thursday 8 September 2011
Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis
When the world’s financial bubble blew, the solution was to lower interest rates and pump trillions of dollars into the sick banking system. The solution is the problem, that’s why we had a problem in the first place. For Economics Nobel laureate Vernon Smith, the Catch 22 is self-evident. But interest rates have been at rock bottom for years, and governments are running out of fuel to feed the economy. The governments can save the banks, but who can save the governments? Forecasts predict all countries’ debt will reach 100% of GDP by next year. Greece and Iceland have already crumbled, who will be next?
The storm that would rock the world, began brewing in the US when congress pushed the idea of home ownership for all, propping up those who couldn’t make the down payments. The Market even coined a term, NINA loans: “No Income, No Assets, No Problem!” Enter FannieMae and FreddieMac, privately owned, government sponsored. Want that vacation? Wanna buy some new clothes? Use your house as a piggie bank! Why earn money to pay for your home when you can make money just living in it? With the government covering all losses, you’d have been a fool not to borrow.
The years of growth had been a continuous party. But when the punchbowl ran dry, instead of letting investors go home to nurse their hangovers as usual, the Federal Reserve just filled it up again with phoney money. For analyst Peter Schiff, the consequence of the spending binge was crystal clear: we’re in so much trouble now because we got drunk on all that Fed alcohol. Yet along with other worried experts, he was mocked and derided during the boom.
Have you taken out a mortgage, invested capital or bought shares? If you have, likelihood is you lost out in the latest bust. Governments promised decisive action, the biggest financial stimulus packages in history, gargantuan bailouts: but what crazed logic is this, propping up debt with…more debt? This documentary brings an entirely fresh voice to the hottest topic of
today.
The storm that would rock the world, began brewing in the US when congress pushed the idea of home ownership for all, propping up those who couldn’t make the down payments. The Market even coined a term, NINA loans: “No Income, No Assets, No Problem!” Enter FannieMae and FreddieMac, privately owned, government sponsored. Want that vacation? Wanna buy some new clothes? Use your house as a piggie bank! Why earn money to pay for your home when you can make money just living in it? With the government covering all losses, you’d have been a fool not to borrow.
The years of growth had been a continuous party. But when the punchbowl ran dry, instead of letting investors go home to nurse their hangovers as usual, the Federal Reserve just filled it up again with phoney money. For analyst Peter Schiff, the consequence of the spending binge was crystal clear: we’re in so much trouble now because we got drunk on all that Fed alcohol. Yet along with other worried experts, he was mocked and derided during the boom.
Have you taken out a mortgage, invested capital or bought shares? If you have, likelihood is you lost out in the latest bust. Governments promised decisive action, the biggest financial stimulus packages in history, gargantuan bailouts: but what crazed logic is this, propping up debt with…more debt? This documentary brings an entirely fresh voice to the hottest topic of
today.
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