Campaigners have called for the universal entitlement to benefits to be protected after figures revealed the full extent of spending cuts required over the next Parliament
Conservative figures on the number of people with drug and alcohol dependency claiming Incapacity Benefits are ‘misleading’ and risk ‘playing politics’ with a highly sensitive issue, experts have said
Work and welfare policy took centre stage in the general election campaign this week, as official statistics showed that unemployment was on the rise again.
The squeeze on public spending means health inequalities between the rich and poor are unlikely to be bridged for another decade, a leading think-tank has warned.
Chancellor Alistair Darling declined to rule out real-terms cuts to benefits payments this morning after pressure from MPs to explain how he plans to bring down the fiscal deficit
Modest investment in education could improve social mobility and help raise gross domestic product by up to £140bn a year over the next 40 years, think-tank research has shown
Taxpayer-funded pension payouts for retired teachers, civil servants, health workers and members of the armed forces are set to top £79bn a year within 50 years, the National Audit Office has warned.
Billions of pounds’ worth of spending targeted on reducing the health gap between the rich and the poor has led to only patchy improvement across England, the Audit Commission has found.
Government efforts to close the gap between England’s most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of the country have been set back by the recession, a study has shown.
A government ‘of any stripe’ should claw back recent benefit rises and restrict child benefits for better-off families to save £6.5bn, a Right-wing think-tank has urged
Funding to expand free nursery education for all should be redirected to only help children from the poorest families, according to report published today
Unequal Britain can’t be changed simply by giving individuals ‘opportunities’, argues Lisa Harker. It needs a government prepared to invest in more skilled jobs for the future and to narrow the...
Measures announced by local government minister Rosie Winterton to put councils at the heart of tackling youth unemployment have been criticised as being a ‘band aid’ to a larger problem and ‘lacking...
Health inequalities among children under five have barely improved in the past decade despite more than £10bn of government investment, research has shown
More support must be provided to children sleeping rough in Britain. Not only would this alleviate suffering, it would also reduce the long-term costs to the public purse, argues Emilie Smeaton
Labour and the Tories agree on the need for a tough welfare regime to get claimants into the workplace. But differences are emerging as the recession lengthens the dole queue – and puts pressure on...
This year’s conference season will be dominated by cuts - uncomfortable ground for Labour. Far from providing a policy platform, it might only highlight the government’s problems