Opinion

15th January 2013

A step on the road to a Citizen’s Income

The Coalition Government’s announcement that a single-tier state pension will be introduced in 2017 is a step closer to an unconditional Citizen’s Pension. The state second pension will be merged Read More

5th January 2013

A difficult year for claimants and staff

2013 won’t be an easy year for the UK’s benefits system: it won’t be easy for people reliant on benefits, and it won’t be easy for Department for Work and Read More

1st October 2012

Why Austerity is the Wrong Answer to Debt: A Call for a New Paradigm

The delinkage of productivity and real wages is the underlying cause of the economic crisis. As a result of this delinking, consumer income has lagged output GDP, and the gap Read More

1st October 2012

A localised Council Tax Benefit

The Government is planning to localise Council Tax Benefit. Local authorities, which currently administer a national scheme, will be asked to invent their own schemes. At the same time, the Read More

2nd June 2012

Plan B

In response to the Government’s current policies for reducing the debt generated by the previous Government’s bail-out of the banks, the Compass thinktank has published Plan B: a good economy Read More

2nd June 2012

Child Benefit

In September 2010 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that he would withdraw 100% of Child Benefit from any household in which someone was paying higher rate Income Tax (currently Read More