Housing Benefit Plans Are Not New

The chancellor's proposals to reform housing benefit for the under-25s are not new. The Thatcher government's Social Security Acts of 1986 and 1988 were underpinned by the assumption that families should take greater financial responsibility for their young people. This resulted in the ending of income support for 16- and 17-year-olds, except on proof of "severe hardship", and the abolition of "householder status" for under-25s, by the introduction of lower rates of income support for this age group. The impact of these changes proved disastrous.  First, many care leavers for whom family support was not an option experienced poverty and homelessness.  Second, there was a larger but at that time lesser-known group of abused and neglected older teenagers who suffered greatly at the hands of their parents. In order to qualify for benefits so that they could leave their families, or remain in their own accommodation, they had to prove "severe hardship" or "estrangement" at regular intervals. Many gave up on these draconian tests, officially described then, and proposed now, as "safety nets", but which reflected the long shadows of the deterrent poor law. They either remained and suffered at home or ended up homeless.  Read more on the Guardian website.