England and Wales's welfare ghettos
The coalition government in Britain, led by Conservative leader and Prime Minister, David Cameron, has pledged to cut back welfare payments as part of its austerity package designed to deal with the mountain of debt inherited from the previous Labour government.
This article discloses research which suggests that the problem of welfare dependency has become endemic in certain areas and is getting worse, rather than better. Nearly 2 million people have been claiming out-of-work benefits for more than five years. this new research examines the smallest measurable units recorded by the Department for Work & Pensions, which contain about 1,000 people.
The North of England and South Wales are where most welfare ghettos are to be found. England's benefit capital is Central & Falinge in Rochdale, north-west England. It has one of the lowest average lofe expectancies in the UK and a higher proportion of incapacity benefit claimants than anywhere else in England: 84% are state-dependent, 77% on out-of-work benefits alone. Those who do work do so for drugs gangs, or for cash in hand, while continuing to claim benefits.
Rochdale Development Agency has spent millions on various schemes but to little effect so far.
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Howker, Ed. "Spectator Exclusive: Britain's Welfare Ghettos." The Spectator 10 Oct. 2010. Web.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/6359323/spectator-exclusive-britains-welfare-ghettos.thtml
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