Ben Baumberg, Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney tackle some of the most common welfare myths.
Authors: Ben Baumberg, Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney
Welfare reform is almost inevitably contentious. Answering the question of who should receive how much financial support relies on often competing conceptions of fairness, with rival views about who needs, and who deserves, our help, not to mention the most just and efficient way of providing it.
These issues are worth debating - but the current debate is being conducted on shoddy terms. Myths and stereotypes abound. These serve not only to unfairly stigmatise claimants, but to obscure the questions we might want to answer about how best the state can provide support to people who need it.
The following paper explores those myths and stereotypes.
The publisher is Red Pepper.
Tall Tales About Welfare Reform © Ben Baumberg, Kate Bell and Declan Gaffney 2012.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
housing, social justice, tax and benefits, Paper
