UN Report Links Global Welfare Cuts to Far-Right Surge

A new United Nations report by Olivier De Schutter warns that welfare cuts and restructuring worldwide have deepened poverty and alienation, creating fertile ground for the rise of far-right populist movements. These punitive welfare systems increase economic insecurity, stigmatize claimants, erode trust in public institutions, and leave many feeling abandoned by mainstream politics, which far-right leaders exploit by presenting themselves as champions of the marginalized. The report highlights examples from Europe, the United States, and Argentina, noting that policies like the Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill Act exemplify a "populism of the privileged" by slashing social safety nets while reducing taxes on the wealthy. Furthermore, far-right parties in Europe have adopted a strategy of welfare chauvinism, promising increased benefits exclusively to the national in-group while excluding migrants and outsiders. This shift has contributed to far-right parties topping polls in major European economies by appealing to working-class voters through nationalist social protection promises. De Schutter stresses that despite their rhetoric, far-right agendas aim to dismantle protections for the poor rather than empower them, entrenching economic inequality that correlates strongly with far-right support.