Clive Bibby: A Welfare State at the Crossroads

The best way to offer meaningful solutions to the country’s modern welfare needs is to first understand the client of the system.

And in association with that understanding needs to be a recognition of the original concept for that original ground breaking, life saving development in our society.

Lindsay Mitchell: What an effective welfare system might look like

For three decades following the 1938 introduction of most social security benefits (including Invalid, Sickness and Unemployment), dependence never exceeded more than 2 percent of the working-age population. Today the percentage is 12.7 and the average future time expected to stay on a benefit (which does not include time already spent) is 13.6 years. For those who start on a Young Parent Payment or Youth Payment the figure rises to a staggering 24 years and for Sole Parents, 18 years.*