MoneySaving Poll: Have benefits been cut too far or not far enough?

jamesd

fredandwilma wrote: »

Which then leads us on to political issues as to why we can't cope with our increased population as a nation, such as immigration. Our country doesn't have the resources to cope with our expanding population at the rate it is.

We have been doing so quite easily, helped in part by the largest working population we've ever had, increasing percentages of the population working and the effect that has on increasing economic growth.

The UK population has increased over recent decades as has total employment:

Year population workers
1971 46.4 million 24.5 million (52.8%)
1981 46.8 million 24.4 million (52.1%)
1991 47.9 million 26.2 million (54.7%)
2001 49.4 million 27.7 million (56.1%)
2011 52.7 million 29.4 million (56.0%)

A little over half of the population increase between 1991 and 2014 was due to net migration.

I'll have some more of that growth in our labour force and economy. If nothing else it'll help to make it easier to pay for the state pensions of the boomer generation that is just now in the early part of reaching state pension age.

missbiggles1

jamesd wrote: »

We have been doing so quite easily, helped in part by the largest working population we've ever had, increasing percentages of the population working and the effect that has on increasing economic growth.

The UK population has increased over recent decades as has total employment:

Year population workers
1971 46.4 million 24.5 million (52.8%)
1981 46.8 million 24.4 million (52.1%)
1991 47.9 million 26.2 million (54.7%)
2001 49.4 million 27.7 million (56.1%)
2011 52.7 million 29.4 million (56.0%)

A little over half of the population increase between 1991 and 2014 was due to net migration.

I'll have some more of that growth in our labour force and economy. If nothing else it'll help to make it easier to pay for the state pensions of the boomer generation that is just now in the early part of reaching state pension age.

The first boomers reached retirement age in 2005/10 and are now in their early 70s so that isn't completely correct although, obviously, many more of us are now safely over the SRP threshold with more to join us.

jamesd

Boomer generation definitions vary, with some going through to those born in around the early to mid sixties and they are still some way from state pension age. The first woman boomers using 1945 as the start reached state pension age in 2005 and the first men in 2010. With state pension age of 68 those included in a 1965 definition are still some 17 years away. A bit over a third of the date range for men, more for women, so far.

Whatever definition age range is used for boomers I'm happy to have more immigrants in the country and in the work force to help to pay the bills!

joef6283

It's not the amount of benefit payments that is the problem, it's the people who are claiming fraudulently. The different benefits agencies should interact with each other and the N.I. agency could, if they co-ordinated their resources, root out the bogus claimants.
I have seen several people, on tv programmes, claiming for Housing Benefits on multiple properties from different councils. That is just the tip of the iceberg, stop all the bogus claims and there would be millions of pounds saved