How much does the welfare state cost?

Education is a major cost for all, with most people struggling to afford their education and the state funding it requires.

But the welfare states that we live in do more to help those in need than those who have benefited from the benefits system. 

According to the latest figures from the Department for Education, the UK spends £16,927 per head on welfare per year.

That’s around 3.5 times the UK average of £8,979.

It’s also over five times the level of public spending as the UK as a whole.

That means that welfare is more expensive for people who live in wealthier areas and who don’t benefit from other forms of public funding.

This can lead to a wider gap between what people in the richest and poorest areas can afford to spend and what the state can afford.

So how does the state spend money?

In 2020-21, the state spent £6,539 per head in welfare support for people in private education.

This included £3,932 for parents with children in private school and £4,056 for students in independent or “independent” schools.

This represents almost 10 per cent of total spending on welfare. 

In contrast, in 2016-17 the government spent £9,939 per year in direct grants for pupils in independent schools.

These included £2,611 for parents in private schools, £1,719 for students from independent schools and £1.1 million for students not in private educational establishments. 

It’s not clear what the amount of spending by private schools differs from the amount by public schools, but the amount spent by private school principals is the equivalent of around £4 million per year per pupil.

In total, the £7.5 billion in direct funding for private schools is equivalent to £12.6 billion in spending by public authorities.

This compares with around £8 billion spent on state schools by the UK’s other main public institutions.

It also reflects the UK state funding is significantly higher than the average per head spent in the UK overall. 

Why do people need to be in work?

The main reason for people to be working is to make ends meet, with the vast majority of people who are in work living in the lowest paid occupations.

In the past, working class people were able to access welfare because they were part of the labour force and were able or willing to work. 

However, in the last decade, the amount available to people working in the lower paid occupations has fallen significantly, making it more difficult for them to afford to stay in work.

For example, in April 2018, the average hourly earnings of people working at the lowest-paid level fell by 2.7 per cent compared to the same month last year.

In fact, the lowest pay in the labour market fell by over 3 per cent. 

How does work itself help people?

As well as the economic benefits that welfare helps people to access, work itself also helps to make life better for the many who are affected by poverty.

Work has a direct impact on people’s health, well-being, and income.

Working makes a big difference to their quality of life, with some experts suggesting that in some cases, the better they do, the more successful they are at achieving their goals. 

More research is needed to establish the impact of work on welfare, but studies have shown that working can lead people to work longer, spend more time at home, spend less time with their families and become more dependent on the state. 

If welfare benefits were paid to people in full-time work rather than to those working part-time, this would reduce the gap between the welfare system’s cost and the amount the state is able to spend.

This could lead to the government paying more towards the welfare of working people.

However, it is unlikely to happen.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people in employment has increased by just 0.5 per cent over the last 10 years.

This compares with an increase of 3.6 per cent in the total population. 

What is the government’s position on the question of how much money is spent on welfare?

The Government has a clear policy to support working people, and in particular those in work, to help them to make the most of their lives.

As part of this, the Government has established the UK Workforce Support Programme, which supports the training of people to meet the requirements of a job, and the Universal Credit scheme which supports those in working families.

The Government’s position is that the UK welfare system is designed to help people in work to achieve their goals, while also providing the necessary supports to those in low-paid work.