Only the most doctrinaire re-distributor of wealth could have devised a benefits system which made it more profitable to loaf than to labour. A system which taxed hard working people to provide the work shy with a lifestyle beyond the reach of those who worked to pay for it. A regime of unlimited housing benefit which meant that working tenants of crumbling council flats, through their taxes, paid the rent of claimants enjoying up-market mansions. Yet, this was the system which the last government inherited.
Conservatives recognised the inherent unfairness of the programme and set about remedying it to ensure that those who made a lifestyle choice to live on benefits should not enjoy a lifestyle superior to that of the average worker. They introduced benefits limits; £500 per week for couples and single parents, £350 per week for single individuals. To compare these benefits with average earnings, it is relevant to remember benefits are generally untaxed.
When this benefit cap was introduced in 2013, 58,700 households were affected. In the following two years the number subject to the cap has reduced by over 60% to 23,100. This is simply because many of those formerly claiming have found work, while others have reduced their claims.
This interim result has been a win/win result for taxpayers and claimants. Fairness has been introduced into the system, with taxpayers making savings and by ensuring that it is not more profitable to claim than work, claimants have been incentivised to find work and discover a purpose in life.
The Conservative government proposes to further reduce the global amount which may be claimed to £23.000. No doubt this will provoke the ritual denunciations from the usual quarters. But the success of this general policy is apparent. Fairness is promoted and lives have been enriched with the satisfaction that comes from employment.