A survey by YouGov has found that most people now think benefits are too low or about right – a turnaround from the 37% of people who thought they were too high at the height of austerity measures in 2013.
Only 15% of people now think benefits are too high. The data also shows a sharp fall in the number of people who think the welfare system is open to abuse, and more people believe that not enough help is given to those both in and out of work. 1.7 million people of working age are currently unemployed, and five million are on furlough.
DR UK’s Fazilet Hadi said: “We know that Disabled people who have to live on benefits often really struggle. The extra costs of living for Disabled people can be over £500 per month. Benefits don’t touch these additional costs. It is frustrating that it has taken a pandemic, mass unemployment, and the pinching of the pursestrings due to furlough wages, to finally grasp that a life on benefits is not a life of ease – it is hard, exhausting and often punitive.”