Don't forget that the Social Protection category also includes the state pension and tax credits. Tax credits are only available if you're working and they're not really a 'benefit'.
The problem with 'benefits' and policies designed to discourage scrounging is that they generally hit the innocent hardest. A good example is the story you linked to on the BBC site. Given that the three girls are still at school and that I doubt the mother has a good job and earns enough (if any) money to support the family, you have to pay a lot of benefit money to the family to ensure that the babies get everything they need. They shouldn't be punished for their parents failures - in fact, the poorer the babies are while they grow up, the more likely that this will happen again to them.
However, it doesn't stop the feeling that the new grandmother in the story deserves the word Scrounger written on her forehead in indellible ink. |