Britain's benefits bonanza: How 100,000 households rake in more than average wage in welfare every year



Around 100,000 households rake in more than the average wage in benefits every year



Britain's benefits bonanza has been laid bare as it emerged 100,000 households rake in more than the average wage in welfare every year.



They collect £30,899 before tax, while many workers can only aspire to an average wage of £23,422.

Meanwhile 50,000 of those households are entitled to more than £500 a week - which adds up to more than £26,000 a year.

Inmates are also using legal aid to fight disciplinary cases after they flout the rules in jail - by fighting other inmates, disobeying instructions or being caught with drugs or mobile phones.

While the cost of legal aid has been spiralling, the number of extra days added to a convict's sentence has been falling - suggesting they are mounting a better defence.

In 2007, the number of punishments where additional days were added to a sentence was 13,460. By 2009 it was down to 11,550.

This compares with a legal aid bill of £12.49million in 2007, rising to £21.61million last year - or almost £2,500 every hour, according to figures slipped out before MPs left for the summer recess.



Officials at the Department for Work and Pensions highlighted the figures after the coalition pledged an overhaul of the welfare system to make work pay.



Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: 'Yet again we see more evidence for why reform is so desperately needed.



'When thousands of people are earning more on benefits than hard working families struggling to get by there must be something wrong and I'm shocked that this was allowed to happen.'



He insisted the Government's paper published last week - 21st Century Welfare - would start changing the current system, which 'punishes those who do the right thing by going out to work'.

Mr Grayling added: 'We will make work pay so that the system is fair - fair for those who need a hand up and fair for the taxpayer who pays for it.'

The shocking scale of welfare dependency built up under Labour has seen almost 700,000 families pocketing more than £15,000 a year in benefits and nearly two million children living in households where not a single person works, the highest level in Europe.

At least 12million working-age households receive benefits each week, including tax credits and Child Benefit, at a cost of around £85billion per year.



Punitive marginal tax rates often mean people are better off staying on welfare than finding part-time work, as they can lose up to 96p in the pound for any additional income.



The Government has promised to reverse this, although the last Budget showed there would be an increase in the number caught out by the marginal tax rate.



David Cameron has said it is not sustainable to keep spending 14 per cent of national income on funding benefits.



Matthew Sinclair, research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Hardworking taxpayers will be shocked to learn that tens of thousands of claimants are getting more than the average annual wage in benefits.



'This is yet more confirmation that our disastrous welfare system is leaving too many people in a situation where there isn't any real financial incentive to work.



'We need to make drastic changes to save taxpayers' money and ensure that it is worthwhile for people to take the opportunities that will be created as the economy recovers from the recession.



'Most taxpayers are sick of seeing tens of billions of pounds of their money wasted every year on a welfare system that is trapping people in dependency.'



Housing benefit has also soared by 40 per cent to more than £14billion in the last decade.



To combat this Mr Cameron has pledged to clamp down on funding luxury houses in exclusive areas for families on welfare, with a cap of £400 a week for a four-bedroom house.



Critics argue this will force families on welfare out of their homes. But ministers claim those on benefits should not get special rights to live in expensive areas which many working households could not afford.



£815 A WEEK? WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE IT

Pocketing £42,000-a-year from the taxpayer, the Davey family say they are better off on benefits than they would be working.



Their £815-a-week state handouts pay for the couple and their seven children to live in a four-bedroom home with top-of-the-range mod cons and two vehicles, including a Mercedes people carrier.



Claire Davey, 29 - who is about to give birth to her eighth child - has never worked full-time.



She gave birth to Jessica, now 12, at the age of 17. She was followed by Jade, ten, Jamie-Anne, eight, Harriet, six, Adele, four, the couple's only son Tie, three, and Mercedes, two.



Handouts: Peter and Claire Davey with their seven children aged 12 to two

But rather than working to support his growing family, her 35-year-old husband Peter gave up his job as an administrator after realising they would be better off living on the state.



In addition to income support, housing benefit, child tax credits and a council tax discount, the couple receive carer's allowance and disability living allowance for Tie, who suffers from a severe skin disorder.



At their home on Anglesey, the family have a 42in flatscreen television in the living room with Sky TV at £50 a month, a Wii games console, three Nintendo DS machines and a computer.



Yet Mr and Mrs Davey insist they STILL need more cash and are demanding a bigger house - courtesy of the state.



'It's really hard,' said Mrs Davey, 29. 'We can't afford holidays.'



'It doesn't bother me that taxpayers are paying for me to have a large family,' she added.



'I don't feel bad about being subsidised by people who are working.



'If the Government wants to give me money, I'm happy to take it.'



Despite their huge benefits the couple filed for bankruptcy 18 months ago after racking up £20,000 of debt on mail order catalogues.



But they still insist on splashing out on four presents per child at birthdays and last Christmas spent £2,000 on gifts alone.



