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Benefit cheats act out of need, says charity “People in deprived areas are resorting to informal paid work because they are trying to support, feed and clothe their families. They are hard-working, ordinary people trying to survive day by day,” LONDON, (Reuters) - Benefit claimants who cheat the system by taking low-paid jobs on the side usually do so to stave off acute poverty or crises, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said on Friday. In a report, it said claimants also cited a complex and inefficient tax and benefit system as reasons why they resort to informal work. The report “People in low-paid informal work: 'Need not greed'” is based on six years of research by the charity Community Links in east London. Although the government has introduced measures like tax credits to help families on low incomes, many people in the study felt the current system “often trapped them in a cycle of poverty with few financial incentives to work formally.” “People in deprived areas are resorting to informal paid work because they are trying to support, feed and clothe their families. They are hard-working, ordinary people trying to survive day by day,” said the report's author Aaron Barbour. “The government needs to understand and include the informal economy in all its strategies if it is to reach its employment, anti-poverty and regeneration targets,” he said in a statement. The report recommended more support, training
and development for those people who want to move from cash-in-hand
jobs into the formal work environment. |
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