Paul Mason
Life of a food bank user: no gas, no cooker, benefits delayed
Benefit delays or benefit sanctions are the major factor driving people to use food banks says the charity that runs hundreds of them across the country.
-
Breadline Kids: breaking the cycle of food poverty
Becky lives in Hull with her mother and sister. The family has just £1.20 per person, per day, to spend on food. She created a manga cartoon to describe the challenges of living in food poverty.
-
Beyond GDP: measuring happiness with eyeglasses and birdsong
A UN committee says we should consider measures beyond GDP to really see how successful, wealthy and happy a nation is. Here’s why.
-
Why not everyone is benefiting from economic growth
After years in the doldrums, Britain appears to be in the midst of sustainable growth. But it’s not good news all round.
-
-
‘Bedroom tax’ – one year on, is it working?
It is 12 months since the government removed its spare room subsidy, dubbed the “bedroom tax” by critics. It is designed to save money and free up under-occupied homes, so what effect has it had?
-
Victoria Macdonald
Poor reviews: social care website highlights problems
Too many elderly people are being let down by the agencies meant to be helping them with basic care say their friends and relatives.
-
Jackie Long
Now Atos is judged unfit for fit-to-work tests, what next?
Atos is to pull out of a contract to carry out fit-to-work tests early, and will pay a financial settlement as a result. But the company clearly feels it is not the only guilty party.
-
Budget 2014: what to expect from George Osborne
Chancellor George Osborne will deliver his fifth budget on Wednesday. It is bound to include measures that could not have been predicted, but here is what we can expect.
-
Gary Gibbon
Work programme needs more work
It’s not written in the most strident language, but a report the government has been sitting on contains confirmation that one of the DWP’s pet projects is failing in one of its central tasks.
-
Mystery of missing £400,000 housing benefit payments
Hundreds of thousands of pounds in housing benefit payments have “disappeared” after being paid to one of Britain’s biggest property agents, Channel 4 News can reveal.
-
The truth about food banks: dependency or welfare crisis?
Food banks are “consistently” seeing an increase in demand, a Defra-commissioned report concludes – but what are they and are benefits cuts to blame for their proliferation?
-
Benefits reforms: a ‘deeply immoral’ smokescreen?
As the prime minister insists that he has a strong moral case for welfare reform, campaigners warn that, in an already unequal society, the changes are falling unfairly on the poorest.
-
‘My moral mission’: Cameron defends welfare reforms
David Cameron defends the government’s welfare reforms in the face of criticism and insists they are part of his “moral mission.”
-
Coalition putting stop to ‘Benefits Street’ Britain – IDS
The work and pensions secretary defends the coalition’s welfare reforms, which he says are making people feel “more secure” about the future.
-
Clegg: ‘Chinese style’ welfare reforms penalise young people
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg launches an assault on “Chinese-style” welfare reforms being floated by the Tories.
