JOBS AND WELFARE

Our welfare reforms are changing lives. The Conservatives have introduced the biggest welfare to work programme the UK has ever seen to get people back to work. But we also believe it must always pay to work – which is why we have capped benefits so that no one can get more on benefits than the average person earns in work. We want to help people escape poverty, not trap them in it.

Past governments have talked about reform, while watching the benefits bill sky rocket as generations languish on the dole and dependency. This government is delivering the reform our country needs.

The bigger picture

• Nearly 1.2 million new jobs in the private sector have been created since the election. There are now more than 700,000 more people in work than when the Conservatives came to power.

• We are introducing the 'Benefits Cap' so that those out of work cannot get more in benefits than the average person earns in work.

• We are rolling the main work-related benefits and tax credits into one, simple payment - the 'Universal Credit' - which will ensure that going into work always pays more than remaining on benefits.

• We have set up the biggest welfare to work programme the UK has ever seen – replacing the existing patchwork of job initiatives with a single programme that helps people back into work and gives them the support they need.