Writing on a blog last week for the website Public Finance Dr Patrick Nolan, chief economist at leading think tank Reform, has strongly criticised the coalition government’s Welfare Reform Bill.

He calls for what he describes as “expensive and poorly thought-out” reforms to be immediately abandoned. Not enough attention has been paid to how the Universal Credit will be delivered and, it is argued, this lack of detail is likely to lead to expensive mistakes down the line.

He rightly acknowledges that as the scheme is proposed it is likely that many will be trapped in a cycle of dead-end, low paid, unskilled jobs as there is no incentive to find secure, skilled work. However he fails though to point out the inadequacy of Job Seeker’s Allowance and the Minimum Wage to provide a healthy lifestyle, inhibiting both job seeker’s ability to find gainful employment and many workers from lifting themselves out of poverty.

This very real problem faced by many of Britain’s poorest and their dependents, who make regular decisions about whether to eat or heat their homes, will not be solved until the Department of Work of Pensions considers the health of those on poverty incomes and the Department of Health considers income.

For more evidence on the shortfall between these poverty incomes and a minimum income standard, see Z2K’s response to the DWP.