Modern economies make us interdependent. Thus families cannot usually readily revert to subsistence living off the land when jobs disappear, say through the removal of tariffs, or if a parent has an industrial accident, or gets sick or cannot work at the pace modern jobs require. Change requires support. The rapid economic change since 1984 has left many families depleted of assets and energy. In addition, the services of agencies, which have historically supported families, have been sharply curtailed.
Children are the victims.
Such physical deprivation can have profound consequential effects on children's educational performance and social behaviour. So the debate should be about the types and scales of social programmes that are necessary to provide some degree of income security for those at the bottom end of the income stakes. It is not sensible to argue that further cuts to these programmes will encourage self-responsibility, and is criminal to advocate them where children are concerned. It would set out principles to guide policy making in the social area and impose obligations to monitor policy outcomes in light of social objectives. It would provide a framework to make government accountable for the impact of its policies on the welfare of citizens.