Welfare
Fact checks related to the welfare of the country, the welfare state, state spending, poverty and pensions
Viral post about Conservatives’ record in government gets lots of things wrong
It incorrectly claims that child poverty is up 50%, crime is up 30%, and public sector pay is down 15%.
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Claim about cost of Labour’s welfare policy is unsubstantiated
This estimate for Labour’s welfare bill is meaningless because Labour haven’t detailed their welfare policies.
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It’s not government policy to raise the pension age to 75
This was recommended in a report the Centre for Social Justice.
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There’s no easy way to compare benefit and tax fraud.
This graphic comparing benefit fraud and tax fraud is wrong. It’s difficult to compare DWP and HMRC, and most of the numbers quoted are incorrect.
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Prime Minister’s pension claims don’t adjust for inflation
Theresa May said under the Conservatives the basic state pension increased by over £1,450. That’s correct in cash terms but once you account for inflation it’s around £550 more.
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What happens to the money from National Insurance Contributions?
Surplus funds from National Insurance Contributions in the UK are currently invested to reduce the national debt.
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200,000 more people in work under Universal Credit? The government can’t know the answer
The National Audit Office says the government will never be able to measure whether Universal Credit leads to 200,000 more people in work.
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Do benefit fraud investigators outnumber super-rich tax inspectors 8:1?
HMRC employs around 1,000 staff to work with and investigate the tax affairs of the affluent and super-rich. DWP employs around 4,000 staff in its benefit fraud team.
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Can people with terminal illnesses be declared fit to work?
There have been cases of people with terminal illnesses being declared fit to work reported by the media and charities. We don’t know how widespread this is.
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Falsely claiming to live alone accounts for around 9% of benefit fraud
Benefit claimants saying they were single, when in fact they lived as a couple with another person, was probably the fourth most common type of benefit fraud in 2016/17.
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