“Much of the social security system is there to try and prevent poverty as well. Some of the universal benefits that are sort of being caricatured as ‘middle-class benefits’ are actually some of the most effective benefits at doing that,” says Alison Garnham of the Child Poverty Action Group in this latest Fabian podcast.

The panel, which also included Phillip Blond, Director of ResPublica, Kate Green MP, Julian Astle of CentreForum, and Nancy Kelley, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, discussed whether the Coalition is meeting the fairness tests on equality and mobility. It was suggested that the test should consider fairness between generations and between social groups.

Listen to the podcast below: