This essay, on the state of the welfare state in Britain, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 26 March 2023, under the headline “From the cradle to the grave, there is something rotten in the state of welfare”. From the cradle to the grave. Once that phrase was a description of the ambition of the welfare state. Now, it is an illustration of how far that old vision has frayed. An illustration, too, of the extent to which […]

Categories: Britain, Class, Politics • Tags: benefit sanctions, childcare, inequality, jeremy hunt, life expectancy, poverty, state pensions, welfare state, workfare