More than six million workers in Britain are earning less than those living off welfare benefits, a report from the Centre for Social Justice has found.
The think tank’s analysis found that an average welfare recipient benefiting from Universal Credit (UC) subsidies and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits would be given £25,200 per year in taxpayer cash. The CSJ noted that this would be the equivalent to the a pre-tax salary of £30,100.
In comparison, the report pointed to recent job postings for roles paying less than welfare, such as a Leicester prison officer for £28,187, a Birmingham store cleaner for £26,312, and a Manchester nursing assistant for £24,465.
The Centre for Social Justice report found that there are currently 6.2 million full-time workers who currently earn less than the combined benefits package. This would equate to around in four workers.
According to the report, people on the combined benefits package would take home £4,800 more per year than an average full-time worker and £3,400 more than someone on the National Living Wage.
The CSJ said that there are currently more than four million people in Britain claiming out-of-work benefits with no requirement to work.
Commenting on the findings, Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, CSJ founder and architect of the welfare reforms of the last decade, said that his previous reforms had brought the number of workless households to an all-time low and had made “work pay”.
“But because of the post-Covid collapse in vetting and the explosion in health-related welfare claims, millions of workers could now take home more from welfare than wages after tax,” he said.
“This is an outrageous state of affairs. The system must stop writing off thousands of people every day, and incentives to work must be restored to end this ruinous waste of human potential. Welfare reform is ultimately about transforming lives. The danger now is that Britain becomes a welfare state with a bankrupt country attached.”
The report further warned that the number of working-age people claiming benefits due to supposed disabilities is set to increase by 2.4 million over the coming decade.
This, the CSJ warned, threatens to create a “permanent sickness-based welfare state,” that threatens to have “serious consequences for individual wellbeing, the public finances and long-term economic growth.”
Rt Hon Former Shadow Work Secretary and CSJ Senior Fellow, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “The number of people being abandoned to health-related benefits shows why welfare reform cannot be left on the ‘too difficult’ pile.
Ashworth called on the government to follow the pitched “blueprint for a system that values contribution, protects the most vulnerable, and helps thousands more people gain all of the advantages that come with work.”
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