Social Policies and Distributional Outcomes (SPDO) event – The Conservatives’ record on Social Security: Policies, Spending and Outcomes
This was the title of a seminar held at the London School of Economics on the 11th March. At the seminar, John Hills and Kerris Cooper presented findings from a research project on social policies and their distributional outcomes during the past five years.
In their presentation, the researchers evaluated government policy aims for social security, as outlined in the three manifestos since the Conservatives took office in 2015, before reviewing the tax and benefit changes that have taken place in relation to working age social security benefits, disability benefits and pensions, including those set in train before 2015. They analysed government spending over the last decade, contrasting the experiences of working age recipients with and without children and pensioners and considering the effect on minimum income levels for different types of households. They looked at related outcomes, focussing on wider trends in poverty as well as evidence on wider outcomes, including those related to the introduction of Universal Credit.
For further details of the event, and to listen to a podcast, click here.
The slide presentation can be found here.