The coalition's welfare cuts mean a dramatic rise in council tax for the poorest
Matthew Pennycook
This article originally appeared on the New Statesman
The decision to reduce the budget for council tax support by 10 per cent means low-income households face a tax increase of up to £600.
Accustomed to the inflated claims of successive governments, readers might be forgiven for rolling their eyes at the phrase "radical welfare reform". Yet for once the bold rhetoric might match reality. Council Tax Benefit, the most widely claimed benefit in the UK, which provides 5.9 million low-income families with help paying their council tax will soon be abolished. From 1 April, responsibility for council tax support will transfer from Whitehall to each of England’s 326 local authorities (and the Scottish and Welsh governments). Few have yet grasped the full implications.
The welfare debate is only just warming up
Gavin Kelly
This post originally appeared on Gavin's New Statesman blog
Making out that cutting working-age welfare won’t hurt those in work is so divorced from reality that there was always going to be backlash. None of which is to say that Osborne’s gamble won’t pay off.
Powerful Chancellors often over-reach politically before a fall, or at least a bump. For Gordon Brown, it was the desire to cut the basic rate of tax to 20p which brought with it the abolition of the 10p tax rate and the debacle that ensued.
Universal Credit: winners and losers
Vidhya Alakeson
This post originally appeared on the Public Finance blog
Iain Duncan Smith has found an extra £300m for childcare in his Universal Credit, but women who want to work longer hours will lose out. The result is only going to make households worse off
Earlier this month, the government announced the level of support that would be available for childcare under Universal Credit when it is introduced in 2013. This is equivalent to the support currently available to low-to-middle income families through the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit.
'Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings' 'earnings squeeze' 'squeeze' 'wage stagnation' #ows £10000 10p 2011 2012 50p 99% Affordable Housing Alex Hurrell America andrew haldane Anna Vignoles apprenticeships arrears ASHE assets Audit Australia autumn statement bank of england below minimum wage benefits borgen Boris Johnson borrowing budget budget 2011 Budget 2012 cameron care assistant centreforum child benefit child poverty childcar childcare CiF citizens UK coalition Commission Commission on Living Standards conservatives cost of living Cost of Motherhood costs council tax council tax benefit cpi CPIH daniel chandler datablog David Cameron david willetts de-coupling Debt debt forgivenes debt target degree dependency dilnot distribution Donald Hirsch earnings economy Ed Miliband education employment enforcement equity release felicity dennistoun female employment first-time buyers forbearance gap Gavin Kelly GDP gearing gender generation rent gingerbread giselle cory good life great stagnation gregg growth growth without gain Guardian HELP Committee higher rate higher rate tax relief hmrc holmes hourglass household debt household finances household income household spending Housing housing market huffington post IFS illegal in work income income inequality income tax increase indignados inequality inflation institutional investment interest rates international ippr Ipsos MORI James Plunkett jared bernstein jobs jobs gap joe coward John Van Reenen jrf Labour labour market lane kenworthy lee savage Left Foot Forward Lib Dems liberal democrats living living costs living standards living wage living wage foundation LMIs Low earners low middle earners low pay Low Pay Britain low pay commission low to middle income low wage low wage work machin marginal tax rate matt whittaker matthew hancock Matthew Whittaker mayhew measuring poverty median real wage median wage Mervyn King middle class minimum income standards minimum wage missing out mobility monetary policy Montague mortgage market mortgages netmums new statesman new statesman blog new year newby newham Nick Clegg niesr number paid below minimum wage Obama OBR occupy occupy wall street OECD older older workers ons pay pay and pensions pension Pensions pensions relief personal allowances personal finance pledge cards polarisation policy politicans politics poll poverty predistribution prescription charges prices priorities private rented sector private sector growth prospect public sector public services q2 growth recession recovery reduce credit card reform regional Rented Sector resolution foudnation Resolution Foundation retirement robin wales routine jobs rpi RPIJ rss savings Senate shereen hussein skills social social care social housing social mobility social mobility foundation society Sophia Parker southern cross Squeezed Britain Squeezed Middle standards state state pension age sutton trust tax tax and benefit changes tax and benefits Tax Benefits tax changes tax credits tax cuts tax relief The Spirit Level think tank think-tank threshold travel time trends uk underemployment unemployment unison Universal Credit university USA van reenen VAT Vidhya Alakeson voters voting wage wage growth wage inequality Wage squeeze 2013 wages welfare Welfare Debate welfare state White Paper women Work work incentives workers Working part time lower skilled job working poor young people Youth unemployment youth wages zero hours
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