This LSE blog is worth a read. Author, Richard Machin, highlights that reforming the welfare system has been a key aim of British government since 2010.  He argues that the concept makes no economic sense – it does not produce the outcomes the government is seeking – all while the UK is actually spending less on welfare than countries with comparable economies.

Source: Four reasons why welfare reform is a delusion | British Politics and Policy at LSE

The article provides some goods sources of recent research evidence on welfare.

When communism failed, socialists turned to social welfare as one of the means of achieving their political objectives. Unfortunately, the welfare system in many advanced countries has been abused and poorly managed. Socialists have become the new conservatives trying to prop us the crumbling welfare state. Meanwhile, conservatives have botched it, by relying on progressive and prolonged austerity, rather than radical reform. This blog has repeatedly offered argument after argument for a strategic approach to radical change.

Now with May’s weak and wobbly government, and elderly ‘big beasts’ jockeying to replace her, the UK is virtually rudderless with a lame-duck at the top. So yes, welfare reform is a delusion and the radical left will just demand more money to support a flawed system. But then the shadowy far-left supporters behind Jeremy Corbyn are focused on domestic revolution, with the UK becoming a Marxist state. Remember, for the Far Left, like the Far Right, truth is subordinated and the end justifies the means.

Thoughts?