How well is our Welfare State?  

Today, the new Work and Pensions Secretary (it's Betsy Duncan-Smith's husband, whatever he's called) has announced a radical overhaul of the welfare system. Actually, looking beyond the headlines, it's pretty much a continuation of the work the Labour government had set in motion in recent years. The modern welfare state was designed in the 1940s to suit the needs of a post-war society.   It is a testament to those social pioneers that the system has survived largely intact for six decades.   However, where I agree with Iain Duncan-Smith (and with his predecessors James Purnell and Yvette Cooper (that's Mrs Balls to IDS)) is that the system is now not fit for purpose. We now live in a society completely changed from 1940s Britain.   Take pensions for example. Back then, most adult males didn't survive many years past retirement. Added to that, the balance between...