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Them & Us
Callous tax
Low paid worker Carol Hall, whose disabled son died after being attacked by thugs, now faces being evicted from her family home because of the government's hated 'bedroom tax'.
The tax refers to the withdrawal of housing benefit payments for social housing tenants if they are deemed to have 'spare' bedrooms.
Having lost a £61.35 weekly carer's allowance, Carol is unable to meet the £25 a week rent rise on her housing association home since her son's death.
Cost of living
40% of private tenants' incomes are typically taken up by rent
Housing crisis
With a dearth of affordable social housing, (currently 1.8 million people are on council waiting lists), rents charged by private landlords have spiralled out of control.
The number of affordable homes built in 2013-14 was the lowest in a decade - despite the UK's population rising by five million over the past 12 years.
This chronic housing shortage, escalating rents and workers' wage cuts, have resulted in a more than a doubling of private sector tenants claiming housing benefit in the past decade, from 722,000 in 2003-04 to 1.7 million in 2013-14 - according to the Future of Private Renting report.
Austerity means ill health
In direct contradiction to government claims, a study by University of Newcastle academics and local public health officials has concluded that the bedroom tax has "increased poverty and had broad-ranging adverse effects on health, wellbeing and social relationships".
Along with other cuts, such as the removal of council tax benefit and tax credits, the tax is likely to result in increased demand for GP and mental health services.
Landlords' subsidy
The amount of housing benefit rent subsidies going to private landlords has also more than doubled in real terms over the last ten years, from £3.9 billion in 2003-04 to £9.5 billion in 2013-14, and is set to top £10 billion in 2018-19.
Retailers' subsidy
All the big - and very profitable - high street retail shops have refused to sign up to the 'living wage' ie paying their workers £7.85 an hour (£9.15 an hour in London).
It means that these shops' low paid workers have to claim in-work tax benefits to survive. Effectively, the profits of these companies are being subsidised from public funds.
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
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