Benefits system accused of marginalising poor

A review of the whole benefits system is needed to prevent those who claim benefits from sliding behind the rest of the population, according to Citizens Advice.

It argues that the method of setting benefit levels risks marginalising those claiming benefits.

Citizens Advice notes that adults on Jobseekers Allowance will see their income rise by just 55 pence a week this year compared to a median average earnings rise of £19 a week in the year to April 2004.

John Wheatley, senior policy officer, said: “It is really regrettable that so little is being done to help those people of working age who are genuinely unable to get into a job. By pegging their benefits to a prices index (the Rossi Index), the Government is creating a group of people who are becoming increasingly socially excluded because their incomes are falling further and further behind the incomes of the rest of society.”