UK's Social Support Dependence

In any state around the world, the government offers help to its citizens to reduce poverty level and have control of the state’s economy. The Federal and state governments adopt some legislation and policies to control some challenges affecting the society ranging from poverty, unemployment and population growth to mention a few. Social work comes into play as the discipline work hand-in-hand with the government to develop strategies which help to deliver welfare services more inclusively. The paper discusses the social issue of leaning to the government for support.

In the UK, citizens depend on the government for some social support, a government responsibility. However, the government has developed some legislation within the past two decades to encourage citizens to seek job opportunities. A discussion of the social problem of dependence to the government is fundamental in this module given that; it offers more ideas on how the government uses different policies to reduce unemployment as well as the population growth rate in the UK. Similarly, it provides a platform through which social workers can evaluate the effectiveness of different social policies.

The UK government embarked on welfare reforms whose objective was to reduce individuals’ reliance on government assistance hence making them self-sufficient. The first legislation occurred in 1997 with subsequent Acts in 2007, 2009 and 2012. The Welfare Reform Act aimed at increasing the employment rate by providing employment and support allowance. The Equality and Diversity laws supported the anti-oppressive practices which focus on ending socioeconomic oppression brought by sociocultural and political context. The Equality and Diversity laws support employment ethics which encourages people to work thereby reducing dependence on the government.

The UK reduces dependence on government by introducing tax incentives like the child tax credit. Primarily, the tax credit depends on the number of dependent kids within a family. The UK government introduced the two-child policy where the tax credit is only for the first two children. The two-child policy is relevant when controlling population growth. The tax credit assists those with annual pay of below £32,200 and gets integrated with working tax credit. The Universal Credit is another program in the United Kingdom that simplifies working-age benefits while giving incentives to employed people. Currently, people can take part-time work as the credit gradually tapers away; people do not lose their entitlement. The UK government justified the reduced family benefits earned through this policy suggesting that families should have similar financial choices when having children as those assuming the sole duty of supporting child through work.

Patrick Butler writes in an article about the effects of two-child policy in the UK. He states that approximately 70,000 families got affected by a policy where each lost £2,800. More than half (59%) of the families were in work status. Butler indicates that 190 women got exempted from the policy after proving that the third child was a result of rape. This policy affects more than 200,000 children driving up the UK poverty levels. Butler reports that the universal credit rollout will increase families affected by the policy. He shows some campaigners, who disregard the policy as it attacks low-income families; while other indicates it is a poverty-producing policy (Butler, 2018). The religious leaders and campaigners condemned the policy more so the rape clause specifying it will increase abortion and it is inhumane to women accounting an event of rape against them. However, the government defends the policies indicating they ensure people make better financial choices (Butler, 2018).

The Two-child Policy

The two-child policy involves a program where the government limits the number of children (to two) that a couple or a person should have. The policy took effect on 5th April 2017 where any third child born on and after 6th April 2017 has an exemption from the Universal Credit claim unless under some exemptions indicated in the policy like the third child being born as a result of rape. The policy was first announced in October 2012 and fronted by former Conservative Party and Secretary of the State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith (Butler, 2018). The Finance Ministry under George Osborne announced the implementation of the child tax credit to first two kids only.

The problem of increased population informed the introduction of the two-child policy. The government aimed at eliminating overreliance from families by making individuals plan well for their children thus influencing family planning control. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 guides on the number of benefits a person can claim from the British social security system. It makes changes to child support funding from the government including Universal Credit and tax credit.

The primary purpose of the policy is to control population growth and reliance to government which may affect the United Kingdom environment. Currently, the UK population keeps on growing hence such a policy will discourage people from getting more children. Likewise, the policy reduces the number of kids relying on government help until they reach the maturity age of 18 years. Notably, the policy reduces the government burden from increased population and overreliance; therefore, the government can direct the resources to nation-building programs.

In context, the two-child policy is relevant to the reduction of government overreliance as it restricts increased childbirth as parents would not benefit from child tax credit programs. It leads to low population growth which looks upon the government for assistance. As a social worker, such a policy is crucial in maintaining population growth at a manageable level besides ensuring a balanced sociocultural order; it is besides the side effects that would lead to an increased poverty level in the UK.

This report includes research from five articles touching on the issues of dependence on the government for funds to support families. It relates to both positive views supporting legislation against overdependence on government and equally critiques such policy that leaves families in poverty. While locating the researched documents, there were some challenges. First, the topic has little literature associated thus finding journals with the exact topic became impossible. At the same time, there were no articles that relate only to the UK; hence the articles employed have to undergo comparison given that some policies like the two-child policy started one year ago.

Below are the articles explaining the issues of government dependency

Garrett, P.M., 2015. Words matter: deconstructing welfare dependency in the UK. Critical and Radical Social Work, 3(3), pp.389-406.

Mr. Garrett starts the article by questioning the dominant narratives propagated by politicians like Ian Duncan Smith. According to Mr. Garrett people are dependent on the government as a result of the assumptions that they have personal deficits as well as shortcomings. Mr. Garrett quotes a few scholars like Charles Murray and Lawrence Mead explaining their views on welfare dependency.

Mr. Garrett believes that the explanation of welfare dependency is not right when explained under the churches. He indicates that the churches express those depending on the government as poor where they define the poor as those that are lazy, addicted to drugs and drinks, incompetent in money management and possess an easy livelihood. Mr. Garrett calls for the need to question the welfare dependency constructs to avoid solidifying dominant retrogressive and conceptualizations politics. He claims that there is a need to unravel ideological underpinning around the topic of welfare dependency.

Jonathan Bradshaw. 2017. No 3: Why the two-child policy is the worst social security policy ever

Bradshaw starts by comparing some social security policies passed over the past century. He explains that the two-child policy restricts help to families and children as it affects the child tax credits and universal credit payable. According to Bradshaw, the two-child policy reflects a bad program which breaks a link between the provision and need of supports to children. It makes some children more disadvantaged on their birth order.

Bradshaw explains that the policy gives exceptions to the rule besides questioning the rationale used to form the policy. He adds that the legislation may not last as it contravenes the human rights treaties which the UK remains a signatory. The policy though maintaining controllable population growth act as a form of discrimination to women and a breach to the European Convention on Human Rights Article 14 and Article 3(1) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Beatty, C. and Fothergill, S., 2018. Welfare reform in the United Kingdom 2010–16: Expectations, outcomes, and local impacts. Social Policy & Administration, 52(5), pp.950-968.

Beatty and Fothergill indicate that welfare reform is a vital UK government policy since the year 2010. The Treasury reduced its spending as a result of financial losses spreading across the country taking Scotland as the pilot study. According to Beatty and Fothergill, welfare reform has a minimal impact regarding the level of worklessness. They indicate that the UK welfare reform must be understood well before implementation as it may lead to uncertain outcomes in some poorest places.

Beatty and Fothergill explain that the implementation of the welfare policies brings about the divergence in outcomes and expectations. The welfare reforms reduction seems to increase losses and concentrate where claimant rates are at their highest. Poorest places get hit hardest by the welfare reform. Beatty and Fothergill conclude that welfare reforms delivered a lesser number of benefits besides providing higher numbers in employment. Therefore, it is essential to understand it (welfare reform) as it revolves around reducing public spending.

Samsonsen, V. and Turney, D., 2017. The role of professional judgment in social work assessment: A comparison between Norway and England. European Journal of Social Work, 20(1), pp.112-124.

Samsonsen and Turney indicate that a good quality assessment is critical in achieving better children need outcomes. Samsonsen and Turney argue that it is important to understand the best practices with a comparison of two countries Norway and England. The main argument that Samsonsen and Turney make is the importance of ethical consideration in professionals undertaking the assessment. Samsonsen and Turney signpost that the England government responded well to perceived failures in the child protection system. Such a concern produces a bureaucratized system which downplays the role of professional judgment. Samsonsen and Turney propose models that ground professional judgment in a situation of uncertainty. With a better ethical working system, government spending will become minimal as it occurs in Norway where the government responds to criticism of child protection by increasing resources.

Hick, R. and Lanau, A., 2018. Tax credits and in-work poverty in the UK: An analysis of income packages and anti-poverty performance. Social Policy and Society, pp.1-18.

Hick and Lanau investigate the relationship between the different tax credit and poverty in the working class. They offer in-depth analysis of income packages given to working families and how this income contributes to anti-poverty goals- using data from 2004/5 and 2014/15, Hick and Lanau signpost that tax credit has a positive impact in reducing the poverty gap in recipient families. The payment served large families with more children. It gives an understanding of the government proposal on two-child policy. Hick and Lanau recommend having an in-depth knowledge of income adequacy and a tax credit on working families to establish a better way of reducing in-work poverty.

References

Beatty, C. and Fothergill, S., 2018. Welfare reform in the United Kingdom 2010–16: Expectations, outcomes, and local impacts. Social Policy & Administration, 52(5), pp.950-968.

Garrett, P.M., 2015. Words matter: deconstructing'welfare dependency'in the UK. Critical and Radical Social Work, 3(3), pp.389-406.

Samsonsen, V. and Turney, D., 2017. The role of professional judgement in social work assessment: A comparison between Norway and England. European Journal of Social Work, 20(1), pp.112-124.

Hick, R. and Lanau, A., 2018. Tax credits and in-work poverty in the UK: An analysis of income packages and anti-poverty performance. Social Policy and Society, pp.1-18.