That article seems to suggest that "the figure [of people claiming benefits] soared by one million since 2019, now accounting for 4.2 million working-age people (10.2%)", while the first article says that stigma actually lowers the amount of people applying for benefits. Which is the truth?
You can have a stigma that lowers the number of people applying that need it AND forces driving up the numbers. In this case, increased illness after the pandemic seems to be a factor [0]
I think the truth is that it's complicated and you can take different views on it all. The first article seems to me a little biased - the author is arguing a particular position which is a bit of a simplification. The "soared by one million since 2019" probably includes a lot of long covid and people who lost their job during covid and can't be bothered to go back. Which is different from your traditional benefits claimants.
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That article seems to suggest that "the figure [of people claiming benefits] soared by one million since 2019, now accounting for 4.2 million working-age people (10.2%)", while the first article says that stigma actually lowers the amount of people applying for benefits. Which is the truth?
You can have a stigma that lowers the number of people applying that need it AND forces driving up the numbers. In this case, increased illness after the pandemic seems to be a factor [0]
[0] https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-people-in-the-uk-ar...
I think the truth is that it's complicated and you can take different views on it all. The first article seems to me a little biased - the author is arguing a particular position which is a bit of a simplification. The "soared by one million since 2019" probably includes a lot of long covid and people who lost their job during covid and can't be bothered to go back. Which is different from your traditional benefits claimants.