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Friday, January 16, 1998 Published at 17:48 GMT
Talking Point
Welfare: lifeline or dead end?
Are welfare benefits a dead end for too many people? The UK's Prime Minister Tony Blair says they are. He wants social security to be a lifeline for those in need.
There are claims that fraud accounts for a large part of the UK's benefit bill. The National Audit Office has released figures which officials say shows benefit fraud costs the British taxpayers £2bn a year.
The government's Welfare to Work scheme has been based on American attempts to tackle similar social problems. But can it succeed? If society supports those who have fallen on hard times, how will it weed out those who want to defraud the system?
Does the current system of benefits in the UK, or where you are, throw a lifeline to those who need it? Or is social security actually a dead end?
The Conservative MP David Davis, said fraudsters hurt genuine claimants, "The fiddlers are bleeding the system," he said. "They steal money from the taxpayer and from those most in need."
Mike Donkin reports on Blair's welfare roadshow ('4"07)
The welfare system should not be a dead end. However, after years of abuse of the benefits and NHS system they are bankrupt ....
Cormac McGettigan, UK
The Japanese use a better system where you are given 70% of your last salary
for 3 months only. This forces people to look for a job a lot quicker.
Darren Flindall, UK
Just because there is fraud doesn't mean we do away with a system that tries to help those in need ...
Sudhir Suchak, USA