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1.2 million households get £15,000 in benefits
tommy75
Posts: 583 Forumite
Why bother working?..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6555759/1.2-million-households-get-15000-in-benefits.html
More than one million households in Britain are receiving more than £15,000 in benefits every year - double the number since Labour came to power, official figures have revealed.
By James Kirkup Political Correspondent
Published: 6:32PM GMT 12 Nov 2009
There were 1.2 million households whose total welfare benefits were worth £15,000 or more in 2007/08, the Department of Work and Pensions said. In 1997/98, the figure was 600,000.
And there were 300,000 households who received £20,000 from the state – more than the take-home pay of a worker on the average salary. That is three times the figure when Labour came to power in 1997.
Official figures this week showed that the average annual salary is now £25,800. After tax, that is a take-home salary of around £19,725.
The figures were obtained by the Conservatives, who said they showed that Labour had allowed a “benefits culture” to develop where welfare is often more lucrative than work. Ministers said many of the families concerned included people with severe disabilities.
The figures for welfare payments include child benefit, incapacity benefit and Jobseekers’ Allowance. They do not include tax credits, which can be worth thousands of pounds a year.
Figures released this week show unemployment stands at 2.461 million.
But the number of working age people considered to be “economically inactive is much higher and stands at 8 million. That total includes 2.6 million people claiming incapacity benefit.
Theresa May, the Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "It's hardly surprising that so many people spend their lives on benefits when in some cases they can get as much money from benefits as many people earn in work. Things really have to change."
Critics of the welfare system say it removes much of the economic incentive to seek work.
Of the households receiving £15,000 in welfare, 600,000 have at least one working age adult. And 200,000 of those getting £20,000 have one such adult.
Current benefit rules mean claimants returning to work face losing a large slice of their earnings as a result of complex interaction between the welfare and tax systems.
In some cases, benefits claimants can face a marginal tax rate of as much as 96 per cent, meaning that for every pound they earn, they lose 96 pence in tax and lost benefit.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that 50,000 people face such a high marginal rate.
David Cameron this week promised to overhaul benefits rules to give claimants more of a financial incentive to seek work.
He has asked Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, to review the system. Last month, Mr Duncan Smith wrote a think-tank report saying that claimants should be allowed to keep more of their welfare payments when they get jobs, increasing the rewards from employment.
Jim Knight, the welfare minister, insisted that Labour policies like the national minimum wage and working tax credits are ensuring that it pays to work. He also said that the benefits system has been reformed to encourage claimants to seek work as soon as possible.
But he added: "There will always be a few per cent of people who cannot work because they are severely disabled or have very young families and it is right that we give them an adequate level of support.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6555759/1.2-million-households-get-15000-in-benefits.html
More than one million households in Britain are receiving more than £15,000 in benefits every year - double the number since Labour came to power, official figures have revealed.
By James Kirkup Political Correspondent
Published: 6:32PM GMT 12 Nov 2009
There were 1.2 million households whose total welfare benefits were worth £15,000 or more in 2007/08, the Department of Work and Pensions said. In 1997/98, the figure was 600,000.
And there were 300,000 households who received £20,000 from the state – more than the take-home pay of a worker on the average salary. That is three times the figure when Labour came to power in 1997.
Official figures this week showed that the average annual salary is now £25,800. After tax, that is a take-home salary of around £19,725.
The figures were obtained by the Conservatives, who said they showed that Labour had allowed a “benefits culture” to develop where welfare is often more lucrative than work. Ministers said many of the families concerned included people with severe disabilities.
The figures for welfare payments include child benefit, incapacity benefit and Jobseekers’ Allowance. They do not include tax credits, which can be worth thousands of pounds a year.
Figures released this week show unemployment stands at 2.461 million.
But the number of working age people considered to be “economically inactive is much higher and stands at 8 million. That total includes 2.6 million people claiming incapacity benefit.
Theresa May, the Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "It's hardly surprising that so many people spend their lives on benefits when in some cases they can get as much money from benefits as many people earn in work. Things really have to change."
Critics of the welfare system say it removes much of the economic incentive to seek work.
Of the households receiving £15,000 in welfare, 600,000 have at least one working age adult. And 200,000 of those getting £20,000 have one such adult.
Current benefit rules mean claimants returning to work face losing a large slice of their earnings as a result of complex interaction between the welfare and tax systems.
In some cases, benefits claimants can face a marginal tax rate of as much as 96 per cent, meaning that for every pound they earn, they lose 96 pence in tax and lost benefit.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that 50,000 people face such a high marginal rate.
David Cameron this week promised to overhaul benefits rules to give claimants more of a financial incentive to seek work.
He has asked Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, to review the system. Last month, Mr Duncan Smith wrote a think-tank report saying that claimants should be allowed to keep more of their welfare payments when they get jobs, increasing the rewards from employment.
Jim Knight, the welfare minister, insisted that Labour policies like the national minimum wage and working tax credits are ensuring that it pays to work. He also said that the benefits system has been reformed to encourage claimants to seek work as soon as possible.
But he added: "There will always be a few per cent of people who cannot work because they are severely disabled or have very young families and it is right that we give them an adequate level of support.”
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Comments
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It would be interesting to know, out of that 1.5 million, how many were claiming some sort of disability benefit. It does say 'many of the families concerned included people with severe disabilities' but doesn't give a percentage.There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you - Beatrix Potter0
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It would also be interesting to see how many of them are uneducated lazy $hits who don't know their ar5e from their elbow.0
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Hi,
Easington in County Durham has the highest percentage of benefits claimants: an astonishing 28.5% of the population. This article states the majority are incapacity and income support claimants, and that the DWP believe that only around 5% of those claimants are genuinely entitled to the benefit:
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/One-in-five-people-in.5818379.jpProfit=sanity
Turnover=vanity
Greed=inhumanity:dance:0 -
One of my friends used to do breakdown recovery, he was suprised at the number of mobility cars driven by groups of teenagers. Didn't believe it, till I went out a few times and saw it for myself.
It must cost the government and ultimately ourselves dearly, paying for these non working legitimate joyriders.
Of course, we could stop all the new car stuff and provide the old fibreglass things from 30 years ago - but then the car manufacturers would suffer...
Oh what a pickle.0 -
At first I felt sad, then this bit
Finally made me cry. I just totally give up and despair. As a single person, there's just no hope any more of making a life is there. I can't compete with these people in the workplace, with their top ups employers are paying peanuts that just aren't available to singles.They do not include tax credits, which can be worth thousands of pounds a year.
The Govt kept inventing new benefits and nobody ever put a top limit on it.
And on top of all that, "the world" assumes everybody's getting all these top ups so are trousering them and assuming everybody's even better off than they are. It's crazy.
Off to sob in despair now.0 -
Pretty much explains why NuLabour can still get 30% of the vote. They party's 'supporters' are bought and paid for by the rest of us.
##Things can only get better...##
Yes, if you're an idle benefits scrounger!0 -
Bear in mind that Incapacity and Disability Benefits can be quite high, so the genuinely sick/disabled can contribute a lot to the final monetary figure, although it's difficult to believe that a large percentage of the 28% economically inactive in Easington are sick/disabled.(AKA HRH_MUngo)
Member #10 of £2 savers club
Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton0 -
underlay_guru wrote: »Hi,
Easington in County Durham has the highest percentage of benefits claimants: an astonishing 28.5% of the population. This article states the majority are incapacity and income support claimants, and that the DWP believe that only around 5% of those claimants are genuinely entitled to the benefit:
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/One-in-five-people-in.5818379.jp
People need to remember that violence is the new depression/bad knee.
The chavs have realised that if you go to a interview then 'throw a radgie' the DWP will never bother you again. And if they do, just throw another one.
It's a sad state to be in when the best way of securing your future is being violent to a person interviewing you and not getting the job.0 -
A lot are going to see their benefits increase by quite a sum too soon, when they are able to keep the full amount of CSA they may receive from an ex partner. The state will also pay the full amount of income support on top. At the moment, the lone parent only gets to keep £10 of the CSA amount, and the rest goes back into the pot.
This means reduced costs for the rest of us, and a fairer system between those recieving benefits (a lot get no help from ex partners)
Come April, I think, the lone parent will keep all money, meaning the rest of us have to put a lot more into the income support pot. The CSA payment will not be counted towards "income" for anything. So they could get an extra £300 a month and still be entitled to absolutely everything.
Another major reason these people will not want to return to work. Why bother! Keep all the money and have everything paid for!0 -
underlay_guru wrote: »Hi,
Easington in County Durham has the highest percentage of benefits claimants: an astonishing 28.5% of the population. This article states the majority are incapacity and income support claimants, and that the DWP believe that only around 5% of those claimants are genuinely entitled to the benefit:
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/One-in-five-people-in.5818379.jp
As a once coal mining village, a real example of Thatchers legacy.
Difficult really to think of any solution - in previous times emigration to Canada or Australia was an option, but probably not too much demand for ageing men who probably haven't worked for years.
According to wikipedia, Easington is the "whitest" town in the country (99.2% white).
Food for though for all the bigots who think asylum seelers are the problemUS housing: it's not a bubble
Moneyweek, December 20050
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