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The last month has been dominated by the parliamentary debate about welfare reform, and it has been tempting to see this as – finally – a big and public debate about poverty.

 

The polls tell us that people are furious about welfare scroungers. Hard-working people feel they are subsidising people on welfare who live in luxury. Again and again we are told that reforming welfare is the way to end poverty. And our parliamentarians both reflect and feed those views.

 

If we see it in these simple terms, though, we are missing the point. We know that the current system of welfare does trap people. It erodes their dignity, restricts their choices, and keeps them in poverty, dramatically reducing their capacity to develop, change and take opportunities. But we also know that a very high percentage of the 'welfare bill' goes to people who work (although the overwhelming majority goes to people of pension age). In a very real sense the welfare budget benefits landlords charging extortionate rents, because they can, and employers paying minimal, erratic and unreliable wages, because they can. Many landlords and employers are massively dependent on benefits. Without benefits they would really struggle.