The failure of Beveridge

The "Supplementary Benefit Review" was issued by the Department of Health and Social Security on 16 May 1984. Since it is well known that the social security system is in a complete mess, the announcement of a substantial re-examination such as this, surely, can only be welcomed as a long overdue first step towards a major improvement - or can it? This economic perspective considers the merits of the proposals and examines the problems with the current social security system. Alternative approaches are also proposed