The post-war welfare state was designed to slay Beveridge’s infamous five giants: want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. Although everyone wants a piece of the glory now (Beveridge was a Liberal, the Tories would have done the same thing, etc) let us be quite clear: this was Labour’s crowning achievement. It is a testament to its efficacy and enduring popularity that the welfare state (with some tweaks along the way) is going strong sixty years on.

But a new report published this morning makes worrying reading for all of us concerned with social justice in the UK. ‘Sinking & Swimming: Understanding Britain’s Unmet Needs’ is a report into the condition of Britain, produced by the Young Foundation, and supported by various bodies including the Big Lottery Fund.

The Young Foundation is named after Michael Young, one of Britain’s most famous social researchers and innovators. For decades he based himself in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, and could claim to have invented the Open University, the Consumers’ Association, the word and concept ‘meritocracy’ and a hundred and one other wheezes. He was social science’s answer to James Dyson. He also wrote the Labour manifesto for the 1945 general election, which laid the foundations for the welfare state.

The Young Foundation’s report says that although the five giants have been mostly slain (although significant pockets of poverty and unfairness remain), new giants have arisen to take their place.

There’s a really mixed picture: while obesity is a major problem, particularly for younger people, some older people still get sick and 350 die because of poor nutrition each year. Although the numbers have fallen, some still sleep rough on city streets, and those that do have a life expectancy of around 42 years. Some get by on very little money – like the asylum seekers surviving on £5 a day. Debt has always been a terror for poor families, and recent years have seen a worsening incidence of unmanageable debt. Average household unsecured debt (excluding mortgages) is now over £9,000.

The report shows that although overall, British people are more affluent than 50 years ago, we are not happier. Most people are content with their lives, but a significant number, particularly women, are not. Between one-in-six and one-in-four people in the UK experience mental health problems at some point in their lives. The number of prescriptions for anti-depressant drugs increased from 9 million in 1991 to 34 million in 2007. There are also important psychosocial needs, like the people who have no one to talk on a daily basis. A million people have no-one to turn to and no-one who appreciates them. Half a million pensioners will spend this Christmas alone.

Overall, the groups most likely to have acute and persistent needs include the unemployed, lone parents and many living with disabilities, as well as half a million irregular migrants, 140,000 child runaways, a third of a million problematic drug users and 80,000 looked-after children.

The challenges for the welfare state are huge. A system designed to tackle one kind of social problem is struggling with another kind altogether. Beveridge assumed families and communities would take care of people’s psychological needs. He never saw obesity as a problem for the children of the poor, only the rich. He wouldn’t have comprehended that some of the very poorest people view their mobile phones as more important than food.

The Young Foundation’s report highlights some of the answers: more support for people in transition between different statuses: people getting divorced, leaving prison, losing their jobs or becoming homeless; more ‘open door’ policies so if someone deals with one part of the system, their problems can be dealt with all at once; much more emphasis on well-being, not just material welfare.

But it will be up to policy-makers and politicians to make sense of the Young Foundation’s important work, and fashion the tools to do the job. An epidemic of loneliness and anxiety is about to engulf us, and the welfare state is not equipped to cope. After today’s report, we can’t say we weren’t warned.