The Breakdown By HuffPost - What Is Austerity?

Ten years after austerity measures were put in place in the UK, the government has finally reported a small budget surplus. The huge debts incurred after bailing out banks during the 2008 global financial crisis led to an emergency budget which massively reduced government spending. But homelessness, child poverty and reliance on food banks have increased. In this episode of The Breakdown By HuffPost, we explore if austerity measures were a temporary and necessary financial tool to bring the country back from the edge of bankruptcy, or a new mindset of how the government funds social spending like housing, welfare and schooling. If the employment rate is at a 44-year low, why are people doing so badly under austerity Britain?