Notes on the Front

The Troika is at it again – putting pressure on the
Government to do something.  This time
the ‘something‘ is to introduce more means-testing. 

 ‘The Irish
Times understands that the Government is under pressure from the EU-IMF-ECB
troika to reduce the duration for which the means-tested jobseeker’s benefit is
paid.  At present the payment – worth up
to €188 a week – is paid for up to 12 months to people who are out of work and
covered by social insurance. However, this would be reduced to nine months
under proposals to be considered by the Cabinet.  As a result, those on the benefit would face moving
on to means-tested jobseeker’s payments much earlier. This would see thousands
of people receiving lower rates. The move is aimed at encouraging people to
seek work, or what policymakers call a “labour activation measure”'

The report above is somewhat confused – Jobseekers’ Benefit
is not means-tested (this could be a typo). 
But you get the point:  increase
means-testing.

This is being presented as a ‘work incentive’ measure but in
truth it is cost-cutting measure – for many households, once their Benefit runs
out they will either be excluded from Assistance (e.g. if their partner is
working) or have the payment cut because they have savings, etc. 

Or it is an attempt to drive people back into the labour
market at lower wages; more people competing for fewer jobs has that effect.  Whichever, It will represent one more step in
degrading an already enfeebled social insurance system.

But let’s take a step back and look at the wider
picture.  To what extent does Ireland
means-test its social protection payments compared to other EU countries?  There is a powerful lobby calling for more
means-testing in order to ‘direct money to those who most need it’.  How do we compare now? 

Ireland already means-test more than any other country – by
country miles.  Ireland is means-test central. 

If means-testing delivers resources to those most in need,
then we should have seen this in Ireland. 
Have we?

• According to the means-test mantra we must focus
  resources on those who ‘need’ them, the most ‘vulnerable’, etc.  If this works, it must be working in
  Ireland.   Is it?

• One million people suffer multiple deprivation
  experiences – nearly one in four; nearly 350,000 of these are children.

• Deprivation has grown dramatically since the
  start of the crisis – 65 percent overall between 2008 and 2010 (the last year
  we have data for); for children, the growth rate has been nearly 75 percent.

• One in ten now suffer from food poverty – that is,
  hunger

According to the means-test mantra we must focus resources
on those who ‘need’ them, the most ‘vulnerable’, etc.  This is exactly what the Irish social protection
does through extensive means-testing. It does this more than any other country.
 And, yet, it has failed to stem the tide
of rising deprivation in society.

But true to form, we have calls for even more means-testing,
just as have calls for more austerity, more spending cuts, more wage cuts.

 I’m afraid the
paraphrase of the old saying might be true – you can’t teach a broken economy
the right tricks.