Protect! - Village Magazine

1 6 March 2016

POLITICS

Protect!

A progressive agenda for the new

social protection minister

by Mary Murphy

henewMinisterforSocialProtection

willfaceanumberofsignicantchal-

lenges. S/he has to deal

comprehensivelywiththedamageof

theimmediatepast,whileexpediting

longoverduereforms,andatthesametimestay

ontopofnewwelfarechallengesassociated

withchangingformsoffamily,employmentpat-

terns, demographic trends: all betrayed by

pervasiveinequalities.

TheUNhasprovidedsomevaluableguidance

forthenewMinister-intheConcludingObser-

vationsoftheUnitedNations Committeeon

Economic,Social andCulturalRightson the

thirdperiodicreportofIrelandaboutimplemen-

tation of the International Covenant on

Economic,SocialandCulturalRightsofJune

2015.TheCommitteestronglyadvisedthataus-

teritypoliciesshouldonlybetemporaryand

onlycovertheperiodofthecrisis.Theyrecom-

mendedthatIrelandrestorepre-crisislevelsof

socialprotection.TheystatedthatIrelandmust

strengthen policy capacity with a disaggre-

gateddatastrategyandadequaterightsand

equality-proongmechanisms.

FivekeyprioritiesforthenewMinisterfor

SocialProtectionaresuggested:

1 Redressingtheimpactofausteritycutson

childrenatriskofpoverty,youngpeople

under26,andloneparents.Thesegroups

sufferedseriouscollateraldamagefromaus-

terity budgets that failed to protect the

vulnerable;

Reversingreductionsinwelfarepayments

thatleftrecipientsbelowthepovertyline;

Tacklinglong-termunemploymentina

mannerthatpromotesinclusioninthelabour

marketforallthosewhowantemployment,

includingpeoplewithdisabilities,andall

women;

4 Ensuringthecontributionofsocialwelfare

payments to the growing crisisin family

homelessness.

5 Changingthemalebreadwinnermodeland

responding to new forms of family

diversity.

TheuniversalChildBenetwasreducedover

anumberofausteritybudgetsfrom€166per

monthin2010to€130pmin2013,withaddi-

tionalcutstothehigherpaymentsforthe3rd+

child.Thispaymentwasincreasedby€5over

budgets2015and2016andisnow€140.The

combinedimpactofthesecutsandparental

unemploymentmeanschildpovertydoubled

overthecrisisperiod.Social-welfare-depend-

ent single families with children suffered

cumulativecutsoverthecrisis.Thenumberof

jobless households with children also bur-

geoned. Tackling child poverty is far more

complexthansimplyrestoringchildbenetto

itspre-crisislevel.ThenewMinistermusttake

seriouslytheadviceofferedbytheNational

EconomicandSocialCouncil(NESC0andby

various commissions and expert groups. A

tieredandbettertargetedchild-income-sup

port system is a prerequisite for efciently

tacklingchildpovertybutavoidingunneces

saryunemploymentandpovertytraps.

Austeritydisproportionatelydamaged the

young.Itsmechanismsincludedemigration,

deteriorationinthequalityofemploymentand

severesocialwelfarecuts-withjob-seekers’

allowancereducedbymorethanhalfforthose

under 25 (from €204 to €100). Many young

peoplehaveemigratedtoavoidnotonlypov-

ertyandunemploymentbutalsolow-quality

employmentandunder-employment;others

remaintrappedintheparentalhomeunableto

affordthetransitiontoindependentadultlife

or to move to larger urban centres to seek

employment.  An immediate priority is

resolvingthesituationofthe600youngpeople

who,unabletosustainresidentialtenancieson

suchaninadequateincome,areleftdependant

onemergencyhomelessservices.

ThenewMinistershouldrevisittheprevious

Minister’soverzealouscutstoloneparents’

incomedisregards,andthedecisiontocompel

loneparents,oncetheiryoungestchildis14

yearsold,toworkfull-time.Itisclearthatthis

policyisnotconducivetothewellbeingofpar-

entsorchildren.Variouscreativealternative

reformproposalshavebeenofferedtopromote

a more positive reform agenda capable of

addressingpoverty and respecting parents’

choices for reconciling care work and paid

employment.

WhiletheEUSurveyofIncomeandLiving

Conditions(SILC)showspoverty,deprivation,

consistentpovertyandinequalityroseoverthe

crisis(Table1),WatsonandMaitre(2013)still

ndhighlevelsofefcacyinIrishsocialtrans-

fers.Despitesocialwelfarecuts,Irishwelfare

paymentswererelativelyeffectiveincushion-

ing people from the worst effects of rising

unemployment and falling incomes. Social

GENERAL NATIONAL

DEPRIVATION RATES

National Deprivation

Rates for lone parents

13.7%

2008

24.5%

2011

30.5%

2013

€

63%

2014

€

Social transfers reduced

the post-transfer poverty

rate by 53% in 2004, but

this rose to 71% by 2013.

Deprivation rose from

13.7% 30.5% between

2008 and 2013

March 2016 1 7

transfersreducedthepost-transferpovertyrate

by53%in2004,butthisroseto71%by2013.

Despitesuchanimpact,deprivationrates

stillrosefrom13.7%to24.5%between2008

and 2011, and up to 30.5% in 2013 before

decreasing.Deprivationratesforloneparents,

however,peakedat63%in2014(CSO).The

NESChasoutlinedthesignicantsocialimpact

ofthecrisis(2013).Itestimatedthat10%ofthe

populationexperiencefoodpoverty.Thereis

growinguseof‘soupkitchens’andrunaway

homelessness.

Thewelfaresystemisthecoremechanismfor

economicequality.Thereare,asMicheálCol-

linsarguedinlastmonth’sVillage,lessonsto

belearnedfrommistakesinpreviousrecover-

ies where the failure to prioritise welfare

increases saw social-welfare-dependent

households’falldramaticallybehindgeneral

incomes.ThenewMinistermustcommitto,and

budget for, adequacy and indexation of all

socialwelfarepayments,notjustthoseconsid-

ered ‘deserving’. These increases need to

be a policy priority, not crumbs - or an

afterthought.

Since2011socialwelfarerateshavenotbeen

decreasedexceptfortwosocialwelfarecuts

whichdecreasedtheadultworkingagepay

mentby€16.AsFocusIrelandrecentlyobserved

thesecutscoupledwithanincreasingcostof

living,haveresultedinaconsiderableerosion

oflivingstandardsforthosereliantonsocial

welfarepaymentsascanbeseeninthiscom-

parisonofrecentincreasesintheConsumer

PriceIndex(CPI)withstagnantIrishsocialwel-

farerates(Table2).

Thelast veyearshave seenanunprece-

dentedlevelofreformintheState’semployment

services,inparticularmerginginstitutionsinto

INTREO.ThePathwaystoWork2016-2020

policydocumentdoesacknowledgeservices

arestrugglingtoreachqualitystandards,with

uneven service delivery and poor guidance

capacity.Othercapacitygapsarenowbeing

addressedby‘JobPath’,private-sectorservices

forthelong-termunemployed.Thesearebased

ona‘pay-by-results’modelwhichwillprobably

increasepressureonpeopletotakepoor-qual-

ityemployment.

The new Minister must carefully consider

whetherthiswork-rstactivationmodelisthe

bestapproachtoactiveinclusionforeveryone,

including people with disabilities and all

womenwhowanttowork.ThenewMinister

mustlearnfromotherfailuresofthe1990s.

Tackling long-term unemployment required

institutional reforms and investment in tai

lored, personalised services for those most

disadvantagedinthelabourmarket.Making

workpayrequiresregulatingfordecentwork

and against poor-quality,  low-paid

employment.

The decision to freeze Rent Supplement

levelsin2013hasdirectlycontributedtothe

growingcrisisoffamilyhomelessnessinDublin

andelsewhere.Inadequaterentcapsleavefam-

iliesandindividualsonlowincomesunableto

compete for accommodation with people in

employment;andunabletopaymarketrents.

Familiessinkfurtherintopovertyastheydig

deeperintotheirownresourcestoincreasethe

rentsupplementtoaleveladequatetocover

realisticmarketrents.

Apovertyandunemploymenttrapoccursas

familiesareunabletoobtainormaintainrent

supplementwhenoneadultinthefamilyisin

employment, eventhoughtheincomefrom

employmentisclearlyinsufcienttomeetthe

rent. The new Minister must prioritise

implementation of the planned Housing

Assistance Payment (HAP) where local

authoritieseffectivelyrentfromprivateland-

lordsandsubsequentlyuseemployment-neutral

rentstoleaseonthepropertiestopeoplein

housingneed.InthemeantimeoneoftheMin-

ister’srstactshastobetoincreaserentcaps

andthelevelsofrentsupplements.

Finally,thenewMinistermustintroducea

social-welfarereformagendathatchangesthe

oldmale-breadwinnerIrishwelfaresystemto

enableittomeetthechallengeofnewformsof

familydiversityandsocialrisks.Thismeans

revisitingtheagendaofindividualisationand

equalityofaccesstoenablingsupports.Anade-

quate and universal individualised old-age

pensionmustbepartofthisreformagenda.

Mary Murphy lectures in Irish Politics and

Society in NUI Maynooth.