Politics · United Kingdom · 3 hrs ago
UK spent £1.1 trillion more on working-age welfare than infrastructure
The Centre for Social Justice says the UK spent £1.1 trillion more on working-age welfare than on infrastructure over nearly two decades.
Its report estimates that £1.6 trillion went to working-age benefits between 2006/07 and 2024/25.
It says the balance has shifted since the post-war decades: working-age benefits now account for 5 per cent of GDP, while infrastructure investment is 2.5 per cent.
The report says areas with high worklessness, including parts of the North, the Midlands and South Wales, have seen little growth in output per person over two decades.
It argues that welfare payments have not addressed the underlying lack of economic opportunity and calls for investment in jobs and local communities.
The debate comes as Chancellor John Healey faces pressure to reduce welfare spending in the Budget on October 28.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the Government can lower the bill by helping more people into work, while ruling out broad benefit cuts.
A Centre for Social Justice report said the UK spent £1.1 trillion more on working-age welfare than on infrastructure over nearly two decades.
The think-tank said working-age benefits cost £1.6 trillion between 2006/7 and 2024/25.
It said welfare spending had risen to 5 per cent of GDP, while infrastructure investment was 2.5 per cent.
The report said underinvestment was especially acute in areas with high worklessness, including parts of the North, the Midlands and South Wales.
It argued that investment and support for businesses, rather than welfare payments alone, were needed to address regional economic decline.
- Who
- The Centre for Social Justice published the report; Ben Gregg, its head of welfare, commented on its findings.
- What
- The report said the UK spent £1.1 trillion more on working-age welfare than on infrastructure.
- When
- It covered spending between 2006/7 and 2024/25.
- Where
- The United Kingdom.
- Why
- The report said welfare had been used to compensate for economic decline instead of reversing it through investment.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The report said the UK spent around 4.5 per cent of GDP on infrastructure and 2.5 per cent on working-age welfare.
The UK spent £1.6 trillion on working-age benefits, according to the report.
Andy Burnham said the Government could reduce the welfare bill by helping more people into work and ruled out crude benefit cuts.
Chancellor John Healey was due to face pressure to reduce welfare spending at the Budget.
- Welfare spending
- £1.6 trillion on working-age benefits between 2006/7 and 2024/25
- Spending gap
- £1.1 trillion more on working-age welfare than infrastructure
- Working-age benefits
- 5 per cent of GDP
- Infrastructure investment
- 2.5 per cent of GDP
- Areas identified
- The North, the Midlands and South Wales
What people are saying
For decades, governments have tried to compensate struggling regions for economic decline rather than reverse it, using welfare to numb the pain instead of providing a reason to hope.
A Britain where everyone has a stake in prosperity is one where good jobs and thriving towns are within reach of every community.
crude cuts
never the Labour way
Sources
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