Work and Pensions

Profound demographic change and the transformation of welfare will underpin the domestic public policy debate for decades.

Reform brings considerable expertise and insight into these critical areas, currently administered by the UK’s largest public service department with around 19 million claimants and customers. Understanding these important public policy drivers will play a key role when addressing public service reform in health, care, housing, income and for intergenerational fairness issues.

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Reform media statement: Benefit cap should be kept but is too low, says think tank

Commenting benefit cap statistics published the Department for Work and Pensions today, Director of the Reform think tank, Charlotte Pickles, said:

“The benefit cap was rightly introduced to make the welfare state fairer – ensuring that those on benefits did not receive more than the average working family. But these figures show the cap has gone too far.

The double whammy of reducing the cap to £20,000 and freezing benefits is causing unacceptable hardship for the most vulnerable in society. The welfare system must be fair for taxpayers, but it must also reduce, not increase, poverty. If the Government wants to cut the welfare bill, they should look at the millions being handed to wealthy pensioners.”