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‘Poor maths skills’ blamed for rising benefits bill, says Santander UK boss

December 30, 2024

William Vereker, the chairman of Santander UK and a former business envoy under Theresa May, has attributed Britain’s soaring benefits bill and long-term worklessness to weak numeracy and a poor grasp of financial fundamentals.

Speaking against the backdrop of a fast-rising sickness benefit budget, Vereker warned that many people overlook the long-term career gains of work simply because the immediate income boost appears marginal compared to benefits.

Vereker said:“One of the challenges of worklessness is that people look at benefits and the job they can get and think, ‘I’m only making £5 or £10 extra a week—why bother?’ But, of course, the reason is that the following year you’ll make more, and then more again. You’ll create an opportunity for yourself.”

He criticised the lack of practical financial education in UK schools, arguing that this shortfall leaves many young people ill-equipped to assess the benefits of steady employment. Rather than viewing a low-paying job as a stepping stone, he suggested, those with minimal financial literacy often perceive little incentive to abandon the security of state aid.

The comments come as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves seek to reduce Britain’s soaring sickness benefits and the number of economically inactive working-age adults, which stands at more than one in five. Critics say that generous welfare payments encourage dependency. The Centre for Social Justice recently found that annual sickness benefits can exceed the income from a minimum-wage job by £3,000.

Long-term sickness claims have surged by 650,000 since the pandemic, climbing to 2.8 million, with a Boston Consulting Group study suggesting that tens of thousands of young people enter unemployment benefits directly from education. Ministers have unveiled initiatives ranging from job centre reforms to a “youth guarantee” withdrawing benefits from those who refuse work or training, but detailed measures to rein in sickness benefits remain pending until next year.

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, now a Labour peer, has indicated his own strong stance on the matter, saying: “We have an obligation to help people. We don’t have an obligation to help people if they’re not prepared to help themselves.”