The mountain Labour must climb to fix the welfare state

Alicja Hagopian and David Maddox investigate the figures behind the party’s clampdown on the ballooning benefits bill

- Alicja Hagopian and David Maddox

Britain’s welfare bill has ballooned, with 23 per cent of the working-age population now in receipt of some form of benefits, figures analysed by The Independent reveal.

Labour has branded the spiralling costs of a life on sickness benefits unsustainable” and has vowed to clamp down by slashing the budget by £5bn.

Analysis of government figures by The Independent shows more than one in five people between the ages of 16 and 64 now claims some form of working-age benefits, including schemes such as the personal independence payment (PIP), universal credit (UC), housing benefit, jobseeker’s allowance, and carer’s allowance.

More than 1 million people with disabilities are set to lose out as ministers tighten the rules for those who can apply amid claims the current system “leaves too many people in a permanent state of dependence on benefits without the opportunity of work”.

The figures lay bare the dilemma the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, faces in trying to balance the nation’s books, while also ensuring the most vulnerable in society are not deprived of crucial assistance when she delivers her spring statement tomorrow.

Today, this publication sheds light on the sheer scale of the task faced by the government in reforming Britain’s welfare state and whether it really is worse off than other countries.

How did it all start?

The modern welfare system has its origins in the 1911 National Insurance Act introduced by Liberal chancellor David Lloyd George to provide insurance cover for people out of work. But the welfare state as known today was formalised in the 1945 to 1951 Labour governments.