UK a nation of scroungers?? More than half take out more than they contribute.

[h="1"]More than half of homes take more than they contribute[/h] [h="2"]Official figures reveal record numbers of people who receive more in benefits and public services than they pay in tax[/h]
The number of people who receive more in benefits and public services than they pay in tax is at record levels, official figures show.

More than half of households now take more from the public purse than they contribute, thanks to a generation of surging Government expenditure.



It has left a minority of middle class taxpayers bearing a growing share of the tax bill.



Well-off families now receive £1 in benefits and services for every £5.10 they contribute in tax.



The figures will fuel concerns among economists that the Treasury’s reliance on a narrowing tax base is a danger to the stability of the public finances.


Some 52 per cent of households, or 13.8 million families, received more in benefits and public services than they contributed in taxes last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.


In 1977, just 40 per cent of households took more than they contributed, rising to 44 per cent in 2000.


It peaked at 53.5 per cent in 2010, as a result of rising unemployment that turned thousands of workers into welfare recipients.


Nevertheless, it has remained at above 50 per cent for every year of the Coalition, despite a drive by ministers to cut public spending and rein in the welfare bill.


The figures showed a marginal increase on last year’s.

Ryan Bourne, head of public policy at the Institute for Economic Affairs, said: "These figures are largely a reflection of sustained deficit spending over the past ten years.


"The proportion increased under Labour as spending on tax credits, education and health went up, and then accelerated with the crash. The fact it hasn't really fallen back is one indication of the work still to do in bringing the budget back to balance."


He said the situation will worsen as an ageing population places a growing burden on pensions and the NHS in coming decades.

“It’s a conundrum for government: how do you reduce the deficit and reform public services without imposing a suffocating tax burden on the working population?"


Tim Knox, the director of the Centre for Policy Studies, said: “The small fall in the proportion of households who receive more in benefits than they pay in tax is welcome, but the fact that over half of all households receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes should be deeply shocking.”


Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP for Clacton, said: “We have not lived within our means for a generation. The ever-expanding redistributive state is pressure down ever more heavily on a diminishing productive base.


“The financial crisis ought to have alerted the political elite that this model is just not sustainable. We have not made the fundamental changes to the architecture of the state that needs to be made.”

In March the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned forcing Britain’s highest earners to foot a greater share of the tax bill is putting the long term finances at risk.

“Lumping more taxes on the rich” is not a sustainable strategy because the ability and willingness of high earners to pay more could eventually run out, the IFS suggested. Just 300,000 high earners now pay 30 per cent of all income tax and 7.5 per cent of all tax, official figures show.

Households with an average income of £104,000 paid £30,000 more in tax than they received from the state last year, ONS figures show.

The top ten per cent of earners contributed £26,984 in income and council tax, plus £10,303 in indirect taxes such as alcohol duty and VAT – a contribution to the public purse of £37,287.

They received £2,284 in state cash benefits, which include child benefit, maternity pay and pensions.

The cost of educating their children came to £1,274, while they used NHS treatment worth £3,410 – meaning their total cost to the Exchequer was £7,264.

By contrast, a family with the national median income of £23,069 received £3,798 more in benefits and services than they paid in taxes last year.

They paid £4,620 in direct tax and £5,029 in indirect taxes, but received £6622 in cash benefits. They received schooling worth £2623 and NHS services worth £4,202.

In total, they paid in £9,649 and received £13,477. It means for every £1 they paid in, they got £1.40 back.

The poorest ten per cent of families, with wages of £3,875 a year, paid £4,611 in direct and indirect taxes and received £13,559 in cash benefits and services. It means they received £2.94 in state support for every £1 they paid in tax.

The figures also show middle class families have seen the steepest fall in living standards since the financial crisis.
The wealthiest fifth of households have seen their disposable income fall by 5.2 per cent since 2007, while for the poorest fifth it has risen by 3.5 per cent.

Overall, families are £1,200 in real terms than they were seven years ago.
What the top ten per cent of families put in last year
Income: £104,940
Tax contribution: £37,287
Including
Income tax £20484
Council tax £1602
Vat £4926

Stamp duty £500
Petrol duty £710
Air passenger duty £242
Wine, beer and cigarettes £866
Receipt from state: £7,264
Including

NHS £3410

Education £1274

State pension £1428

Subsidies to rail and buses £294

Maternity pay £363

Child benefit £260
Housing benefit £14
Job seekers allowance £3
Total net contribution: £30,023

Personally I think we should bring back workhouses, scrap financial help of any kind for education and let people starve to death.

Maybe if business actually paid people a fair wage there wouldn't be hoards of working people on income support and other in-work benefits?

Maybe if there wasn't such benefits people would learn to live within their means?

Then again, I would support scrapping everything and putting them in a modern day, nicer workhouse until they can find a proper job.

"They" are doing their utmost best to completely destroy many of the positives traits of our society developed after WWII. The problem is because we live in a democracy you can't just wade the army in and do it you got to brainwash everyone first so that the turkeys will vote for Christmas.

The welfare system must be one of the worst things to emerge since WWII. There's too much focus on helping those less well off and no focus is on finding out why they are less well off.

It's time to triumph retraining and skilled jobs in technology and service, those jobs usually pay more too Many of the less well off are less well of due to laziness or lack of hard work.

Sooner or later the UK is going to have the decide whether we want to run a low tax system or a high service system, because at the moment we seem to want a low tax high service set up. Services like the NHS, Social housing, and the education system are going to need a load more money over the coming years. We are either going to have to raise taxes to pay for it, or see the level of provision those services fall.

I support scrapping all benefits and handing out food vouchers, housing voucher, energy vouchers and other vouchers to ensure a minimal standard of living. Forget giving actual money. Most can't spend sensibly and it's not even their own money.

Then again, I would support scrapping everything and putting them in a modern day, nicer workhouse until they can find a proper job.

please read this:

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/385796/Britain-s-BIGGEST-sponger-53-000-a-year-dole-Dad-lands-a-mansion-and-wants-MORE-kids

i noticed that the kids started off with fairly normal names but have become more and more ridiculous....