Friday Five – The UK Welfare State

This week’s #fridayfive is on the effectiveness of the UK welfare state.

• With approximately 15 million people classified by Eurostat as at ‘risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE)’, the UK is ranked 15^th of 23 European countries on the ILC-UK’s Poverty and Social Exclusion Index.
• The UK is ranked 14^th on the ILC-UK’s Housing Quality Index, mainly due to its relatively high levels of housing cost overburden among the young and the working age population
• In terms of overall State Effectiveness, the UK is average: 11^th out of 23 European countries
• The UK has one of the highest rates of housing cost overburden, followed only by Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece.
• The UK is ranked 5^th for intergenerational fairness, although poverty and social exclusion remains highest amongst 18-24 year olds.

These data are derived from ILC-UK’s technical report ‘Measuring state effectiveness: An ILC-UK index’. This technical report accompanies ‘Towards a new age: The future of the UK welfare state’.