Welfare state

According to the Mail "Benefits 'wrecked the British work ethic'"
Usual crap.

"The work ethic that inspired successive generations has ebbed away in the face of the welfare state." What rubbish. Especially in a recession, it's not just the 'work shy' who are out of work, but those looking and trying hard to get work. To say we've lost our work ethic is crap.


"There are 2.6million adults who claim the handout meant for the sick and incapable, with around 20 per cent thought to be fully able - but unwilling - to work." Based on what exactly?


"Most economists point to oil price shocks and the collapse of the post-war system of fixed exchange rates in the 1970s for the decline in employment.

Subsequent blows such as housing market collapses or banking failures are also blamed.

But report author Jean-Baptiste Michau rejected these explanations of why unemployment has risen substantially across Europe since the 1970s.

The report in the journal CentrePiece said: 'A decline in the work ethic, induced by the expansion of the welfare state, is key to understanding European unemployment.'"
Bollocks. Moral hazard indeed. While it is an acceptable theoretical arguement, the alternative is the workhouse which is far too far in that direction.


"In Britain, unemployment grew in the 1970s and 1980s, a decade during which many of those without jobs chose to sign on for sickness benefits instead of less generous unemployment payouts.

At least half a million incapacity benefit claimants are thought to have no real disability"
People can't choose to go on incapacity, it has to be assessed. But why let the facts get in the way of a story eh?
Thought to have no real disability - based on what? And i shudder to think about what disabilities the Mail considers not 'real'

Drives me up the bloody wall