Affordable housing, quality public services and social protection are the answer to high costs
After last week’s local elections, there was consensus that the rising cost of living was a top concern for voters, although party politicians offered different interpretations of the results. With the general election looming, the squeeze on incomes and living standards looks set to continue to be the defining political issue.
Yet the political debate around how to respond to current pressures has failed to address the true scale of the challenge and the multiple long-term policy failures that fueled it. The cost-of-living scandal we’ve experienced in the past 18 months has exacerbated a long-simmering quality-of-living crisis.
First, the pandemic and now high inflation exposed and exacerbated long-standing weaknesses in the way our economies and societies function.If, as expected, inflation falls sharply between now and the election, some will claim that we have weathered the storm and can return to of‘Business as usual’. But the reality is that without sweeping reforms, millions of people will continue to live without happy, healthy and prosperous lives.
“The cost-of-living scandal we’ve experienced in the past 18 months has exacerbated a long-simmering quality-of-living crisis. “
At NEF, we believe we need a new social settlements – Reorienting our societies and economies around the core principles needed to ensure everyone has a decent quality of life, all within the umbrella of environmental sustainability.The social policy team I lead is looking at what this looks like in practice, with a focus on ensuring everyone living income, a place to call home and support Quality Public Services.
For many, the most pressing issue right now is making ends meet. A living income, provided through wages where possible, but secured by Social Security, meaning everyone has a secure financial foundation on which to live the life they want. Right now, too many people are trapped between poverty rate benefits and low-paying, insecure jobs. We’re trying to show why a living income is better — not just for individual households but for the economy as a whole.
Our unbalanced housing system means that millions of people spend a significant portion of their already inadequate incomes on rent on homes that are often cold, damp or simply not suitable for their needs. While a range of responses to the housing crisis are needed, we believe a key challenge is the lack of social housing to support people on low incomes.as part of our home campaign, we are examining proposals to encourage a substantial transfer of property from the private to social rental sector, while improving quality and energy efficiency.
Many of our needs are best collectively met through public services, but only if they are properly funded and run in a way that reflects and serves people’s interests. Our core public services, especially the NHS, are collapsing from underfunding and failing to address the root causes behind increased demand.However, our ambition should not just be to fix existing services, but to expand them Universal quality public services We can rely on things like childcare and social care, creating safer, better paying and more fulfilling jobs in the process.
as of‘With the long election campaign in full swing, we will work to ensure that these core components of new social solutions are on the agenda, and push all political parties to come up with policy solutions commensurate with the scale of these challenges. From income to housing to public services, we have an opportunity to ensure that every person in this country can live their lives on a strong foundation. Our politicians just need to commit to making it happen.
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