The concept of the 'undeserving poor': pejorative stereotypes and worsening inequalities undermine welfare reform.

Abstract

I support the current government’s attempts to reform the UK welfare system, which resembles a road to bankruptcy paved with good intentions. However, I take issue with unsympathetic narratives in the press mocking the supposedly undeserving poor, with ‘dole scrounger’ and ‘bogus asylum seeker’ caricatures firmly embedded in the national psyche. Pejorative stereotyping masks what really matters — worsening inequalities, and how politicians are actively complicit in this process. The number of poor children has risen recently,1 yet two-thirds are from working households.2 Over-represented among them are the children of migrant workers,2 whose parents are often on the minimum wage or zero hours contracts, and experiencing hardship and poor health.3 Meanwhile, what remains of the indigenous working class is disenfranchised, with employers opting instead for the migrants. Youth unemployment continues to rise,4 challenging the wisdom of making older people work longer.5 Analysis of social inequality has historically compared …