Whitehall Watch gets the real impact of the proposed ConDem budget exactly right:
But the real impact is going to be not on public jobs – important as they are – as on the services that people get. The poorer you are, the more dependent you are on public services and provision. The more money you have, the more you have options to provide for yourself if you need to and public services fail to deliver. This doesn’t show up in any of the economic analysis of the impact of the Budget on the population, because public services aren’t priced. The effect on many vulnerable people will be devastating.
It’s not just the people dependent on disability or unemployment benefits who are vulnerable, but also the many more families who need public services to survive, as their wages are not enough to pay for all their necessities. These people may not be exactly poor now, but will be if the budget is enacted.