Majority support government control of how people spend benefit payments

Majority support government control of how people spend benefit payments

New polling released by the think tank Demos shows the majority of people believe the government should start controlling how welfare recipients spend their money.

Whilst 6 in 10 people (59%) agreed the government should control what people spend universal credit on, the figure rises sharply for certain recipient groups and for the purchase of specific items.

• An overwhelming 9 out of 10 people (87%) said at least one group of welfare recipients should have their benefits controlled. 77% said yes to monitoring people with a substance or gambling addiction and 69% for those with a criminal or anti-social history. These figures rose to 82% and 75% respectively among respondents aged over 65.

• Over two-thirds of respondents (68%) agreed the government should stop all recipients from spending their benefits on gambling.

• Over half (54%) agreed with the government stopping people spending their benefits on unhealthy items such as cigarettes or alcohol.

• Just under half (46%) opposed benefits being spent on branded goods such as Nike trainers etc,
• Approximately 4 in 10 people backed a ban on buying junk food (38%) and over a third (35%) on holidays.

Read the report from the link above.