Recently, eighteen bishops from the Church of England signed an open letter in The Observer that criticised the recently proposed welfare reforms. The bishops questioned plans to set a household limit of benefit claims to only 500 pounds per week, and are being backed by the Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury in their stance.
Government officials justify the proposed welfare reforms by stating that they could reduce dependency on government benefits. However, bishops believe that reducing the benefits for poor households could lead to significant trouble for families that are already struggling with poverty. In response to the recently proposed welfare reform bill, bishops have authored several amendments that are being tabled by Reverend John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds.
Packer told the BBC that although it is “unusual” for so many bishops to make a concerted effort to sign a political letter, it is not surprising because the bishops feel they are obligated to protect families and children from falling into impoverished conditions. The bishops emphasized the fact that households with several children would be impacted the most by the reduction of government benefits.
The proposed welfare reforms are scheduled to be implemented in 2013, and are supposed to save 7 billion pounds in government welfare spending, an action that the government hopes will prompt citizens to quit depending on benefits and begin seeking jobs and benefiting the economy.
However, instead of just pumping extra funds into Britain’s economy, bishops argue that the new weekly benefit limits could cause up to 80,000 children to become homeless or short of food. Other analysts estimate that the new household weekly benefit could cause at least 50,000 struggling families to be almost 100 pounds poorer per week.
