[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by DanaC

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...in-facts-myths

There's a lot of mythmaking around benefits in this country.

Everyone knows, anecdotally, someone who is gaming the system. But the reality is that fraud is statistically very low within our system.

The vast majority of people claiming benefits do so because they are in need. The vast majority of those who do so are living in poverty. More disturbingly, the majority of those are claiming in-work benefits.

The notion that many people are living it up on the public purse is false. I find it disturbing that as a nation we show more anger towards those who claim benefits than we do towards those who have actually broken the country. I also find it sad that in order to make being in work a better option than being on benefits, our answer is to strip away that help instead of push up wages. The only reason some are better off on benefits than in work is because working wages have stagnated resulting in a real term drop. The lower wages go in relation to the cost of living, the more likely it is that staying on benefits will be better than being in work. The answer to this is to make work pay more not to make benefits pay less.

Great post!!