3 ms·

Are there no workhouses? To an outsider, it's remarkable how durable this attitude has been.

tim333 2y ago
That stuff went a century ago and the deserving and undeserving poor stuff dates from the poor law of 1834. I haven't heard that used in recent decades. The current trend is health related benefits - tell them you are depressed and give up working etc. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ifs-wes-streeting-labour-great-britain-obr-b2531619.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ifs-wes-streeting-labo...
- curtisblaine 2y ago
  That article seems to suggest that "the figure [of people claiming benefits] soared by one million since 2019, now accounting for 4.2 million working-age people (10.2%)", while the first article says that stigma actually lowers the amount of people applying for benefits. Which is the truth?
  - haxiomic 2y ago
    You can have a stigma that lowers the number of people applying that need it AND forces driving up the numbers. In this case, increased illness after the pandemic seems to be a factor [0] [0] https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-people-in-the-uk-are-out-of-work-due-to-long-covid-200297 https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-people-in-the-uk-ar...
  - tim333 2y ago
    I think the truth is that it's complicated and you can take different views on it all. The first article seems to me a little biased - the author is arguing a particular position which is a bit of a simplification. The "soared by one million since 2019" probably includes a lot of long covid and people who lost their job during covid and can't be bothered to go back. Which is different from your traditional benefits claimants.
jordanb 2y ago
It's an attitude that benefits powerful people, and it's held against people who have no power.
- banish-m4 2y ago
  Class warfare by manufacturing consent instigating divide-and-conquer and promotion of ideas against one's own best interests. Similar to how Fox News radicalized the working poor to also hate immigrants, homeless, and the disabled in America.

That stuff went a century ago and the deserving and undeserving poor stuff dates from the poor law of 1834. I haven't heard that used in recent decades. The current trend is health related benefits - tell them you are depressed and give up working etc. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ifs-wes-streeting-labour-great-britain-obr-b2531619.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ifs-wes-streeting-labo...

curtisblaine 2y ago
That article seems to suggest that "the figure [of people claiming benefits] soared by one million since 2019, now accounting for 4.2 million working-age people (10.2%)", while the first article says that stigma actually lowers the amount of people applying for benefits. Which is the truth?
- haxiomic 2y ago
  You can have a stigma that lowers the number of people applying that need it AND forces driving up the numbers. In this case, increased illness after the pandemic seems to be a factor [0] [0] https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-people-in-the-uk-are-out-of-work-due-to-long-covid-200297 https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-people-in-the-uk-ar...
- tim333 2y ago
  I think the truth is that it's complicated and you can take different views on it all. The first article seems to me a little biased - the author is arguing a particular position which is a bit of a simplification. The "soared by one million since 2019" probably includes a lot of long covid and people who lost their job during covid and can't be bothered to go back. Which is different from your traditional benefits claimants.

jordanb 2y ago

It's an attitude that benefits powerful people, and it's held against people who have no power.

banish-m4 2y ago
Class warfare by manufacturing consent instigating divide-and-conquer and promotion of ideas against one's own best interests. Similar to how Fox News radicalized the working poor to also hate immigrants, homeless, and the disabled in America.