1. Overview Of The Main State Benefits
In the United Kingdom today, both the government and the nearby authority play a vital role in
providing assistance to people in need. The welfare state has had many critics over the years since it
was introduced and especially in more recent years however it still remains the envy of many other
nations. Much of its recent criticism has been due to the fact that it's increasingly costly to run.
The group of rules put on many condition benefits are incredibly complex and at times, very hard to
understand. The government has the struggle of providing such advantages to people in times of
need whilst at the same time ensuring that these individuals in such the situation is not monetarily
better off from claiming as opposed to going out to function. Unfortunately this isn't always achieved
and the complexity of the advantage structure can lead to the existence of the ‘benefit trap’ – exactly
where certain people are indeed even worse off if they return to function.
State benefits are also funded by the tax payer on a pay-as-you-go basis. Which means that current
advantages are funded by present taxes and National insurance coverage contributions. Which
means that a constant juggling act should be carried out by federal government to ensure that the
actual books balance out. The situation is made worse when in economic turmoil as there are fewer
individuals working and more people claiming benefits.
The ensuing factor is the fact that many benefits tend to be small within amount and may do nothing
more than prevent individuals from struggling extreme lower income. Aside from the primary eligibility
requirements, certain advantages are means tested. Which means that the amount of advantage is
reduced if the individual’s (or sometimes the family’s) income or even savings exceed specified
amounts – such levels may be determined according of a persons age and whether they are in
retirement.
Each various type of advantage has a various type of purpose. For example, the below list includes 3
of the most claimed benefits:
• Income Support – an advantage designed for those individuals with a reduced income or even no
income at all. Earnings support is also known as a entrance benefit meaning entitlement to this may
open a person’s entitlement with other benefits.
• Jobseekers allowance – Similar to income support, this benefit is perfect for people who are on the
low income or absolutely no income at all. It is a benefit for people who aren't working, or even who
are operating less than sixteen hours each week. Claimants need to provide proof however that
they're actively seeking employment.
• Child benefit – This is a advantage available to all parents or even individuals responsible for
looking after a young child. Child benefit is a tax-free benefit that is not means tested and it does not
rely on an individual getting paid national Insurance efforts. Neither could it be affected by every
other benefits a person might receive. It's made available for every child under the age of 16 years
and may even carry on up until the child is 18 provided that they're in full period education.
As mentioned, the above mentioned list only contains a few available benefits. This list would
continue with other advantages such as legal maternity pay, Statutory paternal pay, maternal

2. allowance, working and kid tax credits, Statutory ill pay, inability benefit, work allowance, disability
living allocation, carer’s allocation, Industrial injuries disablement advantage.
state benefits