BENEFIT MADNESS: THOUSANDS OF UNEMPLOYED GET £30,000 A YEAR

MADNESS: Thousands of unemployed are getting cash payouts

DAMNING new evidence last night proved it does not pay to work in Britain under Labour’s benefit bonanza regime.

Official figures reveal that 20,000 households are handed more than £30,000 in benefits every year – more than the average working wage.

A further 12,000 families – equivalent to the population of Nottingham – claim more than £20,000 a year in tax-free benefits.



The revelation comes just weeks after it emerged that shamed kidnap mother Karen Matthews was collecting benefits worth more than £400 a week.

Tory work and pensions spokesman Chris Grayling said: “Most hard-working people will find these figures astonishing.

“To have a situation where so many households are getting such great sums of money just serves to undermine the vast majority of people who work hard for their money.”

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “At a time when ordinary taxpayers are facing redundancy and repossession, and pensioners struggle on under £100 per week, this benefit bill is far too high.

"It’s important there is a safety net for the vulnerable but the Government must do more to stop the abuse of taxpayers’ generosity and give people greater incentive to get back into work.”

Economist Ruth Lea said: “Frankly, it’s immoral. Many of these people are receiving more than the average wage.”

The Tories said the huge benefit totals meant many families collecting handouts were better off than households with somebody in work.

A person in work would have to earn at least £27,000 before tax to receive £20,000 a year in take-home pay.

But the average worker earns just over £25,000 a year, while half of full-time women workers are on less than £21,500 and one full-time worker in 10 earns less than £13,613.

Mr Grayling said: “It really is time the Government got a grip on Britain’s benefits culture.

“It’s hardly surprising so many people live a life on benefits when in some cases it is possible to be paid as much money as someone in work on a typical average income.”

Whitehall sources last night tried to pour scorn on the figures by claiming the figures referred mainly to families with disabled adults or children.

But analysis by the Daily Express reveals just how easy it is to clock up a big benefit payout.

A family of two healthy non-working adults and two healthy children paying rent of £100 a week and a monthly council tax bill of £108 could collect more than £16,100 a year in benefits.

That sum is made up of more than £4,700 in tax credits, £4,950 in Jobseeker’s Allowance, housing benefit of £5,214 and council tax benefit of £1,296.

More children and a bigger house would mean an even larger annual payout. A single mother with four healthy children, paying the maximum rent allowed in an area such as west London could collect up to £32,638 a year.

But a spokesman for Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said: “This is classic Tory hypocrisy.

“The Tories have opposed our plans to ask workless parents to take active steps to prepare for work in return for financial support but now seem to be saying they don’t think families struggling to cope with a disability should get real help.

"They are simply wrong on welfare reform.”