… Conservative governments often struggle with welfare, given their default position that it is a “problem” that requires cutting. They aren’t helped by friendly media outlets so desperate to push the idea of those on welfare as bludgers that they will rush to paint youth as such on their front pages, regardless of the facts. The struggle is compounded by the findings of reports, such as that released this week, which show the biggest driver of welfare spending is the age pension, and that those who remain on welfare for lengthy periods are in small and very specific groups. That reality doesn’t look good on a tabloid front page and so that rather benign information is smothered with large hypothetical figures. Joe Hockey tried this approach last year in his much criticised Intergenerational Report. That report actually predicted all welfare payments would decrease by 2055 as a proportion of GDP except for the age pension and the carer payment – both of which are linked to our ageing population …
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Guardian
