Quote:
Originally Posted by MTVN
Pensions is a big part of it but welfare is also rising, in 2005 there was £78b being spent, this year there is close to £117b
Do agree that they are making JSA etc. bear the brunt because like you say it would be political suicide to go after pensions, there's already enough criticism about that we don't do enough to look after our ageing population
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Comparing to 2005 is a bit iffy really..considering we went through a huge recession
Obviously the bill will rise when more and more people are getting laid off and HAVE to claim benefits to live. Also, a massive proportion of benefits goes to people already in work..since we now have a load of 4 hour per week jobs and 0 hour contracts. This is why I tend to ignore the 'oh we have 100000 more people in work' stuff. Because most of the time, its not a 'real' job, simply a shuffling round and taking a few hours from existing staff to give to other people.
I absolutely disagree that anyone working fulltime (or near to fulltime) hours should have to claim benefits. I suspect if companies were made to pay a living wage (or the cost of living went down, whichever) the benefit bill would drop sharply.
Also, your chart includes pensions anyway, does it not? An looking at that, for the past 4 years or so, everythings been pretty steady