62% believe benefits are too high & discourage work

Nearly two thirds of the population, 62 per cent, think unemployment benefits are too high and discourage work, the British Social Attitudes survey said.

Fewer than one in five, 19 per cent, thought benefits were too low and caused hardship.

Only ten years ago opinion was equally divided, with each attitude to benefits backed by 37 per cent of the population - suggesting that Labour’s 13 years in power led to deepening disillusion with the use of state benefits to boost the incomes of the poorest.

The findings suggest there has been ‘a fundamental long-term change in attitudes towards welfare and benefit recipients’ over the past two decades.

‘Neither redistribution in general nor welfare benefits in particular are as popular as they once were,’ the researchers said.

There were also strong signs of disenchantment with levels of sickness benefit payments.

Only 53 per cent were in favour of more government spending on benefits for disabled people who cannot work last year, down from 72 per cent nine years previously.

People’s changing views may reflect a belief that people are being incorrectly classified as disabled or unable to work, rather than any hard line view that disabled people do not deserve to be helped,’ the report said.

The report said there has been ‘a move away from a belief that government should attempt to deliver a more equal society through income redistribution’ and ‘a fundamental long-term change that leaves Britain looking like a more individualistic society, one in which those on benefits are judged more harshly than in the past and seen as less deserving of public assistance.’

I wonder how those 3300 people were picked?

is this a true representation on the public?

martg wrote: It's hard to say, but if you look at the full figures, the percentage of people who thought the government should ensure that unemployed people have enough to live on was always over 80% in previous surveys. It absolutely plummeted in this one to 59%. I'n not sure how the people are selected, and I'm not an expert on statistics, but I would have thought that was statistically significant.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_significance

It's shocking to me that 41% of people don't think that the disabled should be given enough to live on, especially in the current job climate where even highly qualified able bodied people can't find work.
That 41% is essentially saying that those disabled people should just go and die in a corner somewhere (presumably as long as it's out of sight).

Westminster could do with some new nets...imo.

Benefits are too low and wages are way too low. How about making jobs available that offer some incentive to people. Or at least jobs that will pay the bills.

Ab Origine wrote:


I was going to say blinds but there is fucking plenty of blind-ness around those parts.