Gavin Poole, CSJ Executive Director speaking at the launch of Breakthrough Northern Ireland
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a leading think-tank, issued a report today entitled “Breakthrough Northern Ireland” which paints a grim picture of social breakdown in Northern Ireland, marked by high levels of worklessness, family breakdown, mental illness and addiction.
At the launch of the report in Belfast today Iain Duncan Smith said: “Work not welfare is the best route out of poverty. Social recovery is desperately needed but this is not an easy or quick task.”
The report highlighted the following key findings on the extent of social breakdown in Northern Ireland:
• the highest level of economic inactivity in the UK
• unemployment has more than doubled in the last two years
• over half of those claiming Income Support have done so for more than five years
• one in five households is a single parent family
• three in four single parent families live in poverty – 63,000 children
• widespread mental illness with nearly 50,000 men and women in Northern Ireland out of work because of mental and behavioural disorders
• more than one in ten 35-64 year olds on antidepressants
• 30,000 people using cannabis every month
• rate of cannabis use up 50% from 2002 to 2006
• drug-related deaths up 100-fold in the last 40 years
• among 18 to 29 year olds, 72% of men and 57% of women binge drink at least once a week
• divorce rate is more than five times the level of 40 years ago.
The CSJ recommended a number of measures to tackle these difficult issues including reform of the tax and benefits system. Gavin Poole, CSJ Executive Director said: “Reforming welfare will tackle intergenerational dependency and lack of aspiration by making work pay and releasing its wider benefits.”
In response to this Citizens Advice recognises the need for a positive transition between benefits and work and states that many benefit claimants had fallen into the poverty trap unable to escape benefit dependency because work does not pay.
Citizens Advice welcomes the Government’s proposals to simplify the benefits system stating that many people do not even claim the benefits and tax credits they are entitled to because they are put off by an overly complex system. However the organisation also says that any resulting proposals need to be closely examined to determine the consequences for individuals and to ensure that the needs of the most vulnerable are considered.
Derek Alcorn, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice said,
“The social security system is an important part of our social infrastructure. There are many people who need to access the benefits system because of ill health, disability or because of mental health problems. It is vital that the needs of these vulnerable people are protected to ensure that people are not living in poverty, that individual needs are recognised and that people who need financial support through the benefits system are treated with respect and appropriately supported. We await the finer details on the reforms with interest.”
The organisation also supports the comments made by the Minister for Social Development, Alex Attwood who stressed Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances to the Welfare Reform Minister, Lord Freud in July. Citizens Advice is calling on the Government to take into account the special circumstances which exist in Northern Ireland which mean that many more people here will be affected by welfare reform than elsewhere in the UK.