+e

problem occurs when a person becomes ‘unable to do without’

state hand-outs. +ey then lose their capacity to earn for
themselves – to be independent.

Moves towards greater ‘conditionality’ in the benefit

system, asking more of claimants in return for their claim, task
the welfare state with building, or rebuilding, independence:
of being a ‘liberation welfare’ system

+e government has just introduced a new top rate of tax, *"

per cent, for incomes over £&*",""" a year, in addition to the
existing rate of )" per cent on incomes above £)",""", and
the basic rate of !! per cent. Higher rates might be necessary
simply in order to raise sufficient revenue, but they provide
no grounds for celebration

Recent work in psychology and behavioural

economics has generated compelling empirical evidence
that people are myopic and weak-willed. Most of us knew
this already.

Hence the importance of what Professor Avner

Offer has labelled ‘commitment devices’ and ‘commitment
strategies’, which people adopt to help themselves resist
short-term temptation, apply themselves to necessary but
onerous tasks, and save and plan for the longer-run

+e sight of women drinking heavily seems to excite

particular outrage. But alcohol is relatively cheap, young
people are unmarried, childless and – until the recent
recession – fairly affluent. +e freedom to drink carries
substantial attendant costs in terms of crime, injury, costs
to the NHS, illness and public disorder.

+ere is an argument that ill-health ‘harms’ others

through the price tag for the welfare state.

+ere is an argument that ill-health ‘harms’ others

through the price tag for the welfare state.

But there can be no doubt that a capable life

requires enough work – not too much and not too little.

+e problem begins at home.

+e child of professional parents is exposed on average to
!,&"" words per hour, but children with parents on benefits
hear on average only '"" words per hour.40

+e Joseph Rowntree Foundation

research highlighted in the previous chapter suggested that a
minimum acceptable income for a single adult of working age
is £&(,)"" p.a. before tax, and for a couple with two children
it is £!',%"".

+is means that a large proportion of the working

population earns an income insufficient to support the
capability needed.
+e links with other problems are
very notable: half of those misusing drugs and alcohol have
mental health problems.

A general lesson can be drawn from the specific way

in which mental health treatment is organised. +e problem
is that someone has to be acutely ill before they are helped.
Provision according to need means, in conditions of financial
scarcity, that minor ailments receive no great attention.
Early intervention, which is critical, requires mental health
problems to be recognised in schools and workplaces.
+e most common alarm bell is usually a decline in physical
health, but it is rarely bad enough to trigger action.

Finally, many
seriously mentally ill people are in the criminal justice system
just for the want of somewhere else to put them. Small crimes
are o-en the direct result of being ill and treatment is better
than punishment. A jail sentence can be waived on condition
that a treatment programme is followed rigorously.

It might be better, in all these instances of capability

deprivation, to apply a broken families approach analogous
with the ‘broken windows’ theory, which suggests that rapid
and decisive action on the small crimes will help to prevent
the big ones. +e same will apply to a family living a chaotic
life.