Government Responses to Inequality Essay

Question 1

Introduction

Answer 1

Poverty and poor health are two of the biggest inequalities in the UK. Responses such as the Scottish Child Payment and Universal Credit have been more effective than say National Living Wage. However, each of them is not without their critiques. Ultimately this response will argue that the government has been more successful addressing poverty inequalities in the UK with the Scottish Child Payment.

Question 2

Universal Credit - unsuccessful
Describe

Answer 2

The Universal Credit provides support for people who earn a low income. However, the benefit is only for whose who are deemed to have a really low income and need to have the additional support from benefits. (The JRF has found that the likelihood of being in poverty while being in receipt of benefits has increased over time.)

Question 3

Universal Credit - unsuccessful
Evidence

Answer 3

For example, the reality is that since the introduction of UC, poverty in the UK remains high and the use of foodbanks has increased across the UK by 123%

Question 4

Universal Credit - unsuccessful
Analysis

Answer 4

This shows that although they are receiving the benefit, it has no effect on helping people out of poverty as the UC is only given to those who have a low income, but as soon as their income increases they lose the benefit, therefore causing a cycle of poverty to begin again as they soon need the benefit again.

Question 5

Universal Credit
Describe

Answer 5

The UK Government would highlight that since the introduction of the Universal Credit until the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic, that unemployment in the UK was historically low and employment was historically high.

Question 6

Universal Credit
Analysis

Answer 6

This shows that individualistic policies were successful in encouraging people in work with the belief that by tackling unemployment poverty would be reduced as the UC allows for you to be better off in work and makes it easier to start a new job or work more hours. As your take home pay increases, UC will reduce gradually so you won’t lose all your benefits at once.

Question 6

Universal Credit
Evidence

Answer 6

For example, the employment rates were over 75% before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question 7

Universal Credit
Link back

Answer 7

To an extent, the Universal Credit has been successful. This is because although the Universal Credit has helped increase emloyment rates in the UK, there are still high levels of poverty within the UK as the removal of the UC from those who receive the benefit before increasing their income, causing them to fall back into the poverty cycle.

Question 8

NLW - unsuccessful
Describe

Answer 8

Many argue that the National Living Wage is not enough to help people tackle poverty as the NLW is calculated based on a proportion of the median level of earnings, which means that the NLW wouldn’t be helpful in practical terms as not everyone earns the same amount of money.

Question 8

NLW - unsuccessful
Evidence

Answer 8

For example, the JRF has highlighted that poverty in the UK is around 22% which has changed little in the last 5 years. Considering that NLW policies have been around for over 20 years would argue that they really are not effective enough.

Question 9

NLW
Describe

Answer 9

Since 2016, the NLW has allowed for workers to be earning more than they would have done if they had been left on minimum wage which is what under 23s earn, allowing for more workers to have the opportunity to earn more and increase their take home earning.

Question 9

NLW - unsuccessful
Analysis

Answer 9

This shows that the National Living Wage hasn’t changed to suit the economical situation the UK is in, meaning that the NLW didn’t help people withstand poverty.

Question 10

NLW
Evidence

Answer 10

For example, the Living Wage Foundation found that in 2021, those who benefited were now £2,700 better off a year than they would have been if they stayed on the NMW.

Question 11

NLW
Analysis

Answer 11

This shows that the NLW was a better response to poverty than the previous benefit of the National Minimum Wage, as the NLW has allowed for more people to earn more money in comparison to the money they were previously earning.

Question 12

National Living Wage
Link back

Answer 12

To an extent, the NLW was a successful response to socio-economic issues because the idea behind introducing the NLW was that being in work should be enough to avoid being in poverty. It puts the responsibility onto citizens to earn the income they need to look after themselves. However, the NLW is only offered to those who are over the age of 23, making it more likely for younger people to experience poverty as they can only be paid the minimum wage.

Question 13

SCP - unsuccessful
Describe

Answer 13

The amount of money children receive as part of the SCP is deemed too low to help prevent children remaining in poverty, causing the response to be unsuccessful as the number of children remaining in poverty is still quite high and hasn’t decreased since the introduction of the benefit in 2017.

Question 14

SCP - unsuccessful
Evidence

Answer 14

For example, it is estimated that in order for the Scottish Government to achieve its target of less than 10% by 2030/31 then the SCP will need to double to £40 by 2025/26 a week (from its current figure of £20 a week in April 2022.)

Question 14

SCP - unsuccessful
Analysis

Answer 14

This shows that in order for the Scottish Child Payment to be successful, the Government needs to increase the amount of money, as the current figure is not helping any family from escaping poverty and providing better for their children.

Question 14

SCP
Describe

Answer 14

There is no limit to the number of children per family are eligible for the payment unlike UK Government support. The SCP goes some way to topping up the benefits given by the UK Government which the Scottish Government and anti-poverty campaigners say are not enough to tackle poverty, therefore the combination of the SCP and other benefits is a better solution to helping reduce poverty in the UK.

Question 15

SCP
Evidence

Answer 15

For example, SNP announced that in 2022 “they were going to increase the SCP by 150% from £10 per week per eligible child to £25 and extended it to under 16s.” This affected the 69% of children living in poverty in Scotland that are in households where someone works.

Question 16

SCP
Analysis

Answer 16

This shows us that the increase in the SCP has allowed for more children to escape poverty as well as their families as the increase and the other benefits the families receive give the family enough money to fall out of poverty.

Question 17

Scottish Child Payment
Link back

Answer 17

The Scottish Child Payment has been a successful response to socio-economc issues to an extent. This is beacuse there is no limit for how many children within a family can get the SCP with, allowing for each child to receive the benefit. However, the benefit in 2022 was deemed to low to help famlies in need as the economical situation in the UK has increased but the Scottish Child Payment has not.

Question 18

Conclusion

Answer 18

As set above the National Living Wage and Universal Credit have been ineffective responses to inequality in the UK because there is a very strict criteria for who is eligible for the benefits and therefore causing many people who need the benefits to miss out on the chance to receive the UC, and only certain employers offer the NLW to their employees. Arguably the Scottish Child Payment may be regarded as one of the better responses because the increase in the money they receive this meant that around 370,000 Scottish children would be eligible for this benefit, and would therefore mean that around 50,000 children would potentially find themselves out of poverty. Ultimately, the most successful response to socio-economic issues was the Scottish Child Payment.