Welfare state costs £473 BILLION!!!!

Arcaine

So lets put some perpsective on the numbers, do we know what makes up the £473 billion?

Over the same period the Government has received £5140 billion in tax, so it spending less than 10% of tax on the welfare state?

Lets look at last year. Spending was £586bn Overall. Dept of Work and pensions was £137.7bn made up of

State Pension :- £57.6bn
Housing Benefit :- £15.6bn
Disablity Benefit :- £15.2bn
Income Support :- £7.7bn
Pension Credit :- £7.5bn
Incapacity Benefit :- £6.6bn
Winter Fuel Payment :- £2.1bn
Job Seekers Allowance :- £1.9bn
Stat Maternity Pay :- £1.5bn
Over 75's Free TV Licence :- £0.5bn

So what are we going to cut and by how much to reduce the bill?

StevieJ

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

I met someone over the summer who expressed the same sentiments. The interesting thing was that although she only worked 16 hours a week to make sure she gets working tax credits as well as the child tax credits for her two school age children, she didn't seem to see herself as a benefit claiment.

Obviously not very bright, BNP cannon fodder :eek:

drc

Mr.Brown wrote: »

Welfare state costs £473 BILLION!!!!

I can't be bothered to read this thread. It will be the usual welfare state stuff. One observation, therefore, that may have already been made.

It's about half what we gave to bail out the banks. Small change really.

Is it not possible to be angry at the size of the welfare state AND be angry at the amount of money used to bailout the banks?

Why on this forum do they seem to be exclusive of each other? IMO they are both wrong.

donaldtramp

drc wrote: »

Is it not possible to be angry at the size of the welfare state AND be angry at the amount of money used to bailout the banks?

Why on this forum do they seem to be exclusive of each other? IMO they are both wrong.

Well said DRC. That comment has been overdue for some time now.....

ThrowingStonesAtYou

Arcaine wrote: »

So lets put some perpsective on the numbers, do we know what makes up the £473 billion?

Over the same period the Government has received £5140 billion in tax, so it spending less than 10% of tax on the welfare state?

Lets look at last year. Spending was £586bn Overall. Dept of Work and pensions was £137.7bn made up of

State Pension :- £57.6bn
Housing Benefit :- £15.6bn
Disablity Benefit :- £15.2bn
Income Support :- £7.7bn
Pension Credit :- £7.5bn
Incapacity Benefit :- £6.6bn
Winter Fuel Payment :- £2.1bn
Job Seekers Allowance :- £1.9bn
Stat Maternity Pay :- £1.5bn
Over 75's Free TV Licence :- £0.5bn

So what are we going to cut and by how much to reduce the bill?

Which ones do Child Benefit and tax credits come under? They can be scrapped (£30b saving).

State pension/pension credit can be slashed for new pensioners as there's little excuse for those retiring now to not have prepared themselves.

Housing benefit can be at least halved, the only reason it is so high now is because the government keeps rents artificially high for everyone by paying far more than they should.

Winter fuel payment can be abolished full stop.

There's a few quid saved.

Arcaine

ThrowingStonesAtYou wrote: »

Which ones do Child Benefit and tax credits come under? They can be scrapped.

State pension/pension credit can be slashed for new pensioners as there's little excuse for those retiring now to not have prepared themselves.

Housing benefit can be at least halved, the only reason it is so high now is because the government keeps rents artificially high for everyone by paying far more than they should.

Winter fuel payment can be abolished full stop.

There's a few quid saved.

Tax credits and Child Benefit are in the HMRC spend of £30.9bn

Tax credits were £19.5bn and child benefit cost £10.6bn with Child trust funds costing £0.24bn.

You are right about pensions, I mean all the people in the Woolworths pension scheme have no excuse at all and all those other people who ahve watched their pension disappear when their company goes under.

Bootski

Well I think WS stinks. I, for one, would not choose to rely on it. However I've not had help, apart from payments, to move on.

I blame society too. Stop moaning about your're neighbours when you cannot even look at them in the eye and ask if they need help.

It's quite simple and comes down to kindness and compassion.

I'm ashamed of it all. "they're not my responsibility" but would you be ever so kind as to rid us all of them as they're a menace of society and don't contribute nowt!

You don't even have the time nore the compassionn to care for your own Mother's half the time yet feel you're getting "ripped off" by those you don't even know.

Hope those of you moaning will fall flat on your very own faces someday.

Bootski

With all DUE respect

ThrowingStonesAtYou

Arcaine wrote: »

You are right about pensions, I mean all the people in the Woolworths pension scheme have no excuse at all and all those other people who ahve watched their pension disappear when their company goes under.

Pensions are a very touchy subject, hence why pensions have reduced over the years by fiscal drag rather than just cutting them outright, but given that retirement can last as long as your working life, shirking personal responsibility for making sure you can fund yourself and saying "oh, my employer will sort me out" doesn't wash with me.

The current retiring generation have what will probably be the luckiest pair of circumstances to see them through retirement that will ever occur, that being fantastic employer pensions and unprecedented HPI making them hundreds of thousands at the expense of their children.

I personally guarantee you the state pension now is far more generous than it will be when the current 20 somethings come to retire (at 68! at least!). Mathematically the current system is not sustainable. So why should the current retirees who have had a much better opportunity at saving in other ways have better state pension provision than their children?

StevieJ

ThrowingStonesAtYou wrote: »

The current retiring generation have what will probably be the luckiest pair of circumstances to see them through retirement that will ever occur, that being fantastic employer pensions and unprecedented HPI making them hundreds of thousands at the expense of their children.

I can't see your point If someone has a fabulous pension and loads of HPI why are their kids not going to inherit a ruck of dosh :rolleyes: Not all the Whinging Poms live in OZ