“My view is pensioners don't have the one option that people of working age have. They can't really increase their income, because they are no longer able to work.”
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All too often, government's response to social breakdown has been a classic case of 'patching' - a case of handing money out, containing problems and limiting the damage but, in doing so, supporting - even reinforcing - dysfunctional behaviour.
We have to challenge the whole idea that it's acceptable for a society like Britain to have such a significant number of people who do not work one day of the week and don't have any possibility of improving the quality of their lives.
Getting a family into work, supporting strong relationships, getting parents off drugs and out of debt - all this can do more for a child's well-being than any amount of money in out-of-work benefits.
We do a disservice to society if we ignore the evidence which shows that stable families tend to be associated with better outcomes for children.