Think Tank Proposes Shake Up of the Benefits System

The Centre for Social Justice, a think tank set up by Iain Duncan Smith, has published Proposals to allow low-paid people to keep benefits for longer and also to streamline the system. According to the Centre the current system makes it hard for some people to earn more money at work than they already receive in benefits. Mr. Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party, proposes merging and reducing 51 benefits into two and subsidising the low paid at a cost of £2.7bn a year. The two categories should be one dealing with work and one with "life requirements", which would make it easy for people to see what they were receiving in total benefits.

Working couples should get more financial help, especially those on low wages, the report says, but families on incomes of £30,000 will see entitlements cut. It also proposes changes to ensure people who save or who own their homes are not penalised by the benefits system. The right-leaning body says help should be concentrated on getting at least one person in each household into work.

 Debbie Scott from Tomorrow's People, a charity for the long-term unemployed, said many benefits stopped the moment a job started, leaving many struggling to earn enough to pay the rent and get through the first month. "In people's minds it's a real issue that they don't want to take the risk because if they can't pay their rent they could become homeless and also they could get into debt," she said.