Director Matthew Oakley speaks on BBC Radio 4

Director of WPI Economics, Matthew Oakley, was invited to speak about poverty and welfare on BBC Radio4 on Wednesday 18th October with Laurie Taylor on its Wednesday ‘Thinking Allowed’ programme.

During the discussion Matthew and Laurie spoke about the similarities and difference of the contemporary Welfare State and the Welfare State introduced in 1948, and explored questions such as: What does day-to-day life involve for those who receive out-of-work benefits? Is the political focus on moving people from ‘welfare’ and into work the right one? How do we balance the rights and responsibilities of contemporary citizenship in a time very different from the post war period?

The programme also welcomed Chris Renwick, Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of York, and Ruth Patrick, Post Doctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool as guests to discuss the origins and purpose of the ‘cradle to grave’ welfare provision introduced under the Labour government in 1948 and how the current welfare reform considers the impact of benefit sanctions and stigma respectively. 

The full audio clip can be found by clicking here. Matthew enters the conversation from 10:10 onwards.