The problem with Chair of Work and Pensions Select Committee Frank Field's analysis of welfare is that he sets it in the context of intergenerational conflict, namely that retired people must give up some part of their pensions and universal benefits in order that younger people can have in-work benefits. This is wholly misleading, poverty does not distinguish between young and old - there are pensioners as well as students living in poverty. Setting one generation against the other serves no one well.
The reality is that welfare can be afforded if people are prepared to pay for it. This will mean those who earn most paying more tax. It must also mean collecting a just level of tax from those corporations, which at present operate as parasites in this country, drawing on the services that the tax payer funds in order to support their enterprises, but to which they contribute little. If the tax take is increased, welfare for young, old and those inbetweeen is easily affordable
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