Centre for Policy on Ageing



Welfare reform — means-tested versus universal benefits
Author(s)	John Grieve Smith
Corporate Author	Socialist Renewal
Publisher	Spokesman Books, Nottingham, 2001
Pages	24 pp (Socialist Renewal new series, number 1)
Source	Socialist Renewal, Russell House, Bulwell Lane, Nottingham NG6 0BT. www.spokesmanbooks.com
Keywords	Social security benefits ; Pensions ; Means testing ; Social welfare.
Annotation	New Labour's welfare reform proposals have been dominated by the desire to keep down expenditure on benefits and to avoid any increase in income tax. The author outlines the welfare state's development since the 1834 Poor Law; and now New Labour has adopted much the same philosophy as its Conservative predecessors. In the case of pensions, although Income Support has been replaced by the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), the basic state pension has not been indexed to earnings. Abolition of SERPS and its replacement with personal or stakeholder pensions is regarded as ill-judged, given uncertainties of money purchase schemes. Instead, policy should be based on the principle of social insurance - that is, adequate benefits received as of right, financed by a combination of social security contributions and taxation, with means-testing reduced to a minimum. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-010129212 B
Classmark	JH: JJ: JF4C: TY
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