REAL LIVES Welfare Cuts and Unite members fear looming poverty from unfair welfare cuts
Nearly 60 per cent of working people believe changes to the welfare system will plunge people in to poverty and make life harder for their own families – with just 17 per cent believing the changes would make the system fairer.
Polled over the New Year, the findings from 6,000 respondents in an independent survey for Unite, reveal nearly half of working people (47 per cent) are in the dark over how the government’s cuts will hit them.
The findings also point to growing fuel poverty and increasing reliance on food banks, with nearly one in four (24 per cent) of those losing out because of the cuts saying they would cut back on heating and 23 per cent on food.
With prices set to continue rising in 2013 and wages stagnating, many people are already struggling to make ends meet. An earlier Unite survey found on average working people are being forced to borrow £327 to get through the month. These pressures on family incomes show why so many people are deeply concerned about the impact of government cuts on their already stretched budgets.
Unite has accused the government of cynically attempting to divide working and non-working people by demonising the unemployed, as it seeks to distract from its economic failure and £40,000 tax giveaway to millionaires this April.
“These latest cuts to welfare show the disdain with which this government views ordinary people and underlines just how out of touch they are with working families struggling to make ends meet,” said Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.
“Cuts to vital support, like housing benefit and tax credits, will have a devastating impact on many in society, sucking money out of the economy and plunging people in to poverty. This is not just self-defeating, it will set this nation back a generation.”
He added that these poll findings showed working people rejected the government’s divide-and-rule strategy and also feared the impact of further welfare cuts.
“Many Unite members, including NHS workers, care workers, bank workers and cleaners rely on welfare support such as housing benefit and child tax credits. This does not give them a lavish lifestyle, but merely allows them to put food on the table and keep a roof over their families’ heads.”
And just when ordinary people are facing cuts to vital support, the government is handing out massive tax breaks for millionaires.
“Unlike this government, Unite is firmly on the side of people – in and out of work – as they fight to resist state- imposed impoverishment,” added Len. “Rather than attacking the poorest, the government should concentrate on getting growth back in to the economy and tackling our jobs crisis.”
The independent survey, conducted for Unite by social research company, Mass1, has tracked around 350,000 people, mainly members of Unite, since January 2011. It’s understood to be the biggest survey to capture the experiences of working people during the economic crisis in the UK.
22 uniteWORKS March/April 2013
OUR SURVEY SAID On changes to the benefit system • 21%of respondents will be worse off
• 10% of respondents will be much worse off
• Of those that are much worse off, 94%will need to cut down on spending (24% will cut back on heating)
• 24% of respondents are dependent on tax credits, jobseekers allowance, housing benefit or employment and support allowance (13% are dependent solely on tax credits)
• 16% of females are greatly dependent on these benefits (12% of males)
• 15% of respondents in their 30s and 40s are greatly dependent on benefits (21% in Northern Ireland)
• 63% of respondents think that benefit increases of 1%per year for three years is too low.
• 40 – 60 year olds are most hostile to these changes.
• Only 17%of respondents think the government changes would make system fairer.
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