New study claims government benefits wrecked work ethic!
LONDON, England - October 8, 2009 - The stigma that once went with claiming benefits rather than working for a living has been lost, a study has claimed.
The work ethic that inspired successive generations has ebbed away in the face of the welfare state.
Over the past decades each generation has seen more and more people milking the benefit system, which has sapped their will to work, the research from the Centre for Economic Performance said.
The findings come at a time when both major parties have committed themselves to cutting numbers who live on incapacity benefit.
There are 2.6 million adults who claim the handout meant for the sick and incapable, with around 20% thought to be fully able - but unwilling - to work.
The report said, “It has long been recognized that generous unemployment benefits create moral hazard - workers are partly protected against the consequences of being unemployed, so they are less likely to search for jobs with the same intensity.”
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.
The work ethic that inspired successive generations has ebbed away in the face of the welfare state.
Over the past decades each generation has seen more and more people milking the benefit system, which has sapped their will to work, the research from the Centre for Economic Performance said.
The findings come at a time when both major parties have committed themselves to cutting numbers who live on incapacity benefit.
There are 2.6 million adults who claim the handout meant for the sick and incapable, with around 20% thought to be fully able - but unwilling - to work.
The report said, “It has long been recognized that generous unemployment benefits create moral hazard - workers are partly protected against the consequences of being unemployed, so they are less likely to search for jobs with the same intensity.”
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.
