Independence Not Inclusion: A liberal approach to disadvantage

Liberals, conservatives and social democrats can all agree the
provision of extra support for severely disadvantaged groups makes
fiscal sense. But the different political traditions will bring different
emphases to policymaking. For liberals, the overall measure
of success is not the degree to which a deeply disadvantaged individual
or family becomes “included” in society; it is the degree to
which they have the resources and opportunities to chart their own
course in life, rather than living at the mercy of others, or in the
grip of addiction.