What exactly IS the problem with the welfare state?

In the news over the last few days there have been several articles, which I have linked to in my previous blog surrounding benefits claimants. I read this today which got me thinking.

http://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/01/03/welfare-reforms-how-the-same-fight-keeps-getting-repeated/

What exactly is it that labour need to do to counter the conservative plans for the welfare state? Instead of constantly looking for a solution, should labour not be asking what is the problem?

Refocusing on what the problems actually are and not just accepting that the conservatives have accurately assessed the problems, and offering a solution based on those lines (which will inevitably lead to the same conclusion) might offer a different insight.

So, that is what i am going to do. What is the problem with the welfare state, more specifically benefits?

First, lets look at what the welfare state is. It is a safety net, designed so that those who can pay into the system do, so that those who cant are supported. It doesn't mean that these are 2 seperate groups, and if you are in one you will never be in the other. It is insurance, so that in case of unemployment or disability you are protected.

My main concern is there are very little problems with the benefits system as it is. Thats not to say there are no problems, but surely the ammount of money that is being spent, and the ammount of time being allotted to welfare reform is disproportionate to the problems that exist in the system.

The conservatives have picked a great time to do this. The stats justify the expense. That is if you look at the stats on their own in isolation. However, if you look at them in context to the economy it is pretty obvious why welfare spending has gone up in the last few years. There simply are no jobs. But that is how it works, you pay in for times when you can't so that you can be supported. In fact the high spending on benefits over the last few years should indicate that the system is actually working.

If you look at the long term unemployed, especially in this region (yorkshire) it is again obvious where the problem stems from. The conservative government of the eighties shut all the coal mines wiping out an entire industry across the region. There were no widespread programmes of re education, and re training, so people were resigned to a life on the dole. Children of the 80's seen their parents and relatives out of work, dis incentivised to gain employment, and lacking the skills to do so. There was no longer a job for life waiting as you got out of school, and so my generation were left on the scrap pile. The problem is 30 years old. It has now become generational and entrenched into peoples mindset. They have watched their fathers survive on the dole, and don't know any different. It is the same as if they seen their fathers down the pit, thats where they would have gone because they didn't know any different (not being negative).

If labour invested in this, providing real training and education to provide motivation to young people it might break the chain of worthlessness. I am not talking about silly cv writing workshops and other basics. I am talking about supporting young people in a year of college with a proper qualification at the end of it. Surely it is worth a year of spending on a young person to gain a lifetime of employment?

That is the key I think, it is in the education of young people. EMA desperately needs to be re introduced. That little bit of money from the government says to someone who might not be in college otherwise that they can do it, and that someone believes they can. Expanding education from just being about paper and pen and more about learning real skills as well.

What ARE the REAL problems with the welfare state?

The labour government  need to ask the right questions before they can even think of answering them. Ask their own questions. What did they do wrong, what did they do right, whats going wrong at the moment and what is going right?