Towns across Britain hold ‘welfare ghettos’ where over half of working age residents are dependent on out of work benefits, a think tank has said.
According to the Signed on, written off report from The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), at least 30% of people are claiming out of work benefits in nearly 70 neighbourhoods in Liverpool, 49 neighbourhoods in Birmingham, and 45 areas in Hull.
Rhyl West in Denbighshire has the highest percentage of people claiming out of work benefits in England and Wales, the CSJ found, with 67% of people aged 16 to 64 claiming the welfare payment.
Research by the CSJ suggests 60% of people aged 16 to 64 in Brandwood in Birmingham are on out of work benefits, while Wensley Fold in Blackburn with Darwen, Birkenhead in Wirral, and Pier Ward Clacton on Sea in Tendring are also ranked in the top five.
The CSJ said Sefton has the highest average welfare spend per head in the country of £6,278.25.
CSJ managing director, Christian Guy, said: ‘The welfare ghettos trapping as many as 6.8 million people are a national disgrace.
‘They represent years of tragic failure and indifference from the political class. People in these neighbourhoods have been consistently written off as incapable and their poverty plight inevitable. Their lives have been limited by a fatalistic assumption that they have little prospect of anything better.’
