Government Policies Essay

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

Governments have introduced many policies in an attempt to tackle wealth & health inequalities. It will be argued Universal Credit is a damaging government policy. This essay will also argue the National Living Wage is failing in its aims. Finally, Minimum Unit Pricing has had some early evidence of success

Question 2

Universal Credit - Point

Answer 2

One government policy introduced to tackle wealth inequality is Universal Credit

Question 3

Universal Credit - Explain

Answer 3

Universal Credit is a system first introduced by the Conservative Party with the aim of getting people into work by providing a benefit to unemployed people or those on low income once a month

The individualist belief is that if it is low enough then more people will be encouraged to get a job & earn their own way out of poverty

Question 4

Universal Credit - Example

Answer 4

Since its introduction, the unemployment rate has been at an all time low of 4%

Question 5

Universal Credit - Analysis

Answer 5

Universal Credit has been successful at helping many people get into work

Question 6

Universal Credit - Rebuttal Point

Answer 6

However, despite the success of helping citizens get a job the reality is that poverty across the UK is still high

Question 7

Universal Credit - Rebuttal Explain

Answer 7

Due to the issues of low pay, employment alone is not enough to eradicate poverty

Those on Universal Credit & that are employed are still having to make the difficult decision between paying their rent or feeding their children

Question 8

Universal Credit - Rebuttal Example

Answer 8

In the past 5 years the use of food banks had increased by 123%

Question 9

Universal Credit - Rebuttal Analysis

Answer 9

Universal Credit alone is not enough to make sure people stay out of poverty

Question 10

Universal Credit - Conclusion

Answer 10

Universal Credit has had some success but overall the system needs to change to fully support those in need

Question 11

National Living Wage - Point

Answer 11

The government’s National Living Wage was introduced to tackle wealth inequalities

Question 12

National Living Wage - Explain

Answer 12

It was first introduced in 1999 by Labour & it used to be known as the minimum wage

The aim of the National Living Wage is to tackle poverty pay by guaranteeing workers a set hourly rate of £9.50 for those over 23

Question 13

National Living Wage - Example

Answer 13

In 2021 the Living Wage Foundation found that those who had benefitted from the NLW were £2,700 better off than if they had been on minimum wage

Question 14

National Living Wage - Analysis

Answer 14

The National Living Wage plays a vital role in helping people stay out of poverty

Question 15

National Living Wage - Rebuttal Point

Answer 15

However, the NLW has faced many criticisms & has not been successful in recent years in tackling wealth inequalities

Question 16

National Living Wage - Rebuttal Explain

Answer 16

Research has found that the NLW is too low to keep many people above the poverty line

The NLW has also not increased with the current inflation rates

Question 17

National Living Wage - Rebuttal Example

Answer 17

It has been found that the real living wage should be £9.90 which has recently increased to £10.90 due to the cost of living crisis

Many employers choose to pay this as it is more appealing to staff

Question 18

National Living Wage - Rebuttal Analysis

Answer 18

The NLW is not increasing enough to keep people out of poverty

Question 19

National Living Wage - Conclusion

Answer 19

The current NLW is not substantial enough & the RLW of £10.50 should become the new NLW

Question 20

Minimum Unit Pricing - Point

Answer 20

Minimum Unit Pricing was a government policy introduced to tackle health inequalities

Question 21

Minimum Unit Pricing - Explain

Answer 21

This policy set a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol in a drink

This was to discourage people from buying cheap, high strength alcohol & damaging their health

Question 22

Minimum Unit Pricing - Example

Answer 22

The BBC have stated a 4% decrease in alcohol sales in Scotland compared to a 3% increase in alcohol sales in England & Wales

Question 23

Minimum Unit Pricing - Analysis

Answer 23

The fact the policy is not replicated in England & Wales indicates this could be an effective policy in tackling alcohol related health inequalities

Question 24

Minimum Unit Prices - Rebuttal Point

Answer 24

However, the reality is that this policy is too new to know if it will have a long term impact

Question 25

Minimum Unit Pricing - Rebuttal Explain

Answer 25

The first figures on its effects were only released in 2020 so it’s still too early to tell

Alcohol related illnesses are a major problem in Scotland & there is a long way to go before we can really know if the response is effective

Question 26

Minimum Unit Pricing - Rebuttal Example

Answer 26

Initial findings indicated that the policy had not reduced the amount of people under the age of 18 drinking when Scotland has an alcohol related death rate almost twice that of England according to Health Scotland

Question 27

Minimum Unit Pricing - Rebuttal Analysis

Answer 27

The Scottish government really has a long way to go in responding to this issue

Question 28

Minimum Unit Pricing - Conclusion

Answer 28

MUP has been fairly successful considering since its introduction, Scotland’s alcohol sales have consistently decreased

Question 29

Overall Conclusion

Answer 29

Overall, MUP has been the most successful government policy introduced to tackle inequalities to a large extent. The drinking culture in Scotland has become increasingly more dangerous in recent years with alcohol related deaths being twice as high as in England. The introduction of MUP has improved the drinking culture in Scotland & there has been a 4% decrease in the sale of alcohol in Scotland according to the BBC. Currently, England & Wales have not implemented this policy & have seen a 3% increase in alcohol sales showing that MUP is effective & other countries should put it in place to reduce the number of people abusing alcohol