Facts and fiction on welfare.

[AccessOfficer]

Popular attitudes towards spending on welfare claimants are often based on ignorance and prejudice, fed by politicians and the media.

The rising number of column inches dedicated to welfare spending has not improved the quality of debate. In fact, as new TUC-commissioned You Gov polling dramatically shows, public attitudes on social security are largely based on fiction.

People have fallen for the gross media stereotypes on welfare spending; a vast over-estimation of the amount spent on unemployed people, levels of benefit fraud, how much people receive and whether they are incentivised to work.

http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2013/01/fact-and-fiction-on-welfare-spending/

Regards
AO

[One Girl and her Big Dog]

Those who have tuned in to the BBC have 'learnt' today that an adult with 5 kids gets £1000 a week in benefits. Now, to be claiming anywhere near that amount, several of them would have to be severely disabled, which wasn't mentioned.

Child benefit is £20.30 a week for the eldest and £13.40 for each extra child. it therefore amouts to £73.90 a week. Child tax credit consists of 'family element' of £10.48 a week & £51.73 a week for each child, maximum; the total from Tax Credit (which is now paid INSTEAD of child allowances on parent's benefits) of £269.13. A parent on JSA would get £71 a week OR a maximum of £110 a week for 'sickness benefits'. Thus the total for a single parent with five kids is £412 (or £451 if they are incapable of work).

Not £1000. Nowhere near £1000,  yet that was what BBC news viewers were told.

[lankou]

Not £1000. Nowhere near £1000,  yet that was what BBC news viewers were told.

What BBC news? So fullfact can be put on the case.

[Minniehaha]

It was mentioned in the BBC News in relation to the incident in which six children died in a fire started by their parents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-21387791

(The video in this link doesn't include the full news broadcast)

[devine63]

I suspect they have included housing benefit when saying that  the family get £1000 per week.  Here in central london for example I pay just under £800 per month for a tiny, grotty one bed flat at the very cheapest end of the market, so a family home could easily be over £1500 per month.

part of the problem is that they nearly always quote the benefit amounts in millions - if they were required to also say what an average person receives, that might help
regards, Deb

[davewhit]

The claim was not  for 5 children but for 11 .......... 5 of them had moved out of the house and this was his problem ?

[devine63]

Hello

according to today's Independent it was £1000 per month not £1000 per week, that makes a big difference!

regards, Deb