Britain is undergoing a welfare revolution following the enactment of the Welfare Reform Bill. To date, the demographic group most exempt from cuts to welfare spending are those over state pension age. People of working age who rely on state welfare payments for some or all of their income – young people, single parent families, the unemployed and the chronically sick and disabled – have all had their incomes reduced to varying degrees. The removal of the spare room subsidy, otherwise known as the ‘bedroom tax’ is a case in point. Affecting an estimated 600,000 social housing tenants nationally and introduced in April 2013, the bedroom tax requires tenants to pay an additional £12 per week for one spare room and an additional £24 per week for two. Almost two thirds of affected tenants have a disability. Social housing tenants are amongst the poorest in society, heavily reliant on benefits…
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