ABSTRACT

Any discussion of social security policy must begin with a striking paradox. Spending on social security has risen enormously in the postwar period, and it now represents nearly one third of all government expenditure. To meet this cost every working person effectively paid, on average, £13 every working day in 1993 (Lilley 1993). And yet the problem of poverty has not been solved. On the contrary, the numbers of poor people have risen sharply in recent years. The measurement of poverty is both technical and controversial, but whatever definition is adopted the pattern remains one of widespread and increasing poverty (Hills 1993). Why has this happened? Why has poverty increased despite such a high level of spending, and despite the creation of a government bureaucracy that employs over 70,000 civil servants and is responsible for more than a billion separate transactions every year? (Ditch 1993).