About 20% of government spending goes towards welfare. Most of this is given in the form of Universal Credit, with the rest going towards housing benefits and council tax support. It is incredibly easy to claim these benefits, especially Universal Credit, leading to the system essentially being abused and people spending the money on things that are not necessities. There is also another huge issue with the welfare system. As with any public service provided by the government, taxpayer money is used to fund it. These taxes come from hard-working people who have worked tirelessly for that money and need it to feed their families. Due to this, the government has an obligation to only provide welfare when absolutely needed – which it fails to do.

A better system would be to remove the payment system. The only two things that the government should provide people are things that are necessary for them to survive – food, water, shelter, and healthcare – and things that will give them the opportunity to get out of the situation they are in. So, instead of the welfare system, shelters can be set up that provide food, water, and shelter. These shelters can also have libraries in them so individuals can use the computers there to apply for jobs. This would ensure that people are not using welfare money on things that it should not be spent on. Overall, it would be a lot cheaper, lessening the amount of taxes people will have to pay.

There will also no longer be any homeless people sleeping on the streets as they will easily be able to get shelter. There should be good security at these shelters to ensure that these individuals cannot get access to drugs. There will also be people in the shelters who will help these individuals get jobs and get their lives together.

The food in these shelters should be healthy but cheap so that taxpayer money can be saved. To save taxpayer money, there should be nothing in these shelters that would count as luxuries – such as heating. Not only would this save taxpayer money, but it will also provide an incentive for people to get out of the situation. It may sound cruel on the surface, but ultimately, money is being taken from hard-working individuals to help these people in the shelters, so a minimum number of services should be provided.

However, not all benefits should be removed. Disability benefits should remain as these individuals are unable to get out of their situation and be productive to society. As these individuals cannot work, they should get enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle. However, those who work should get the absolute minimum to survive and help getting out of their current situation.

Child benefits should also most likely exist as children need a stable environment to grow up in. Living in these shelters will most likely negatively affect a child’s ability to do well in school and subsequently hurt their future. However, parents will still most likely abuse the system and spend money on things that they do not need. To counter this, if a person spends benefits on things that the benefits should not be used for – in this case, food, water, health, and education for the child – the person should be arrested for stealing from the government. Currently, if you are caught for benefit fraud, you will have to pay a fine. To prevent benefit fraud, however, the punishment should be more severe – such as prison time. The same should occur if people lie in order to get disability benefits when they do not need it. There are many people committing disability fraud when, in reality, their disability is not a large handicap that is preventing them from being productive. They are stealing this money from other people.

The welfare system takes money from hard-working people who earned it and gives it to people who haven’t earned it. Humans have an obligation to help others in need, so welfare money should only go towards needs. However, the truth is that many of these people are in the situation of needing welfare money because they are not trustworthy. Most individuals who are trustworthy will have friends and family who will happily help them during times of need. Due to the fact that many of these people are untrustworthy, giving them money and trusting them to spend it only on things that they need is incredibly flawed. A better system would be one where the government just provided these individuals with the things they need to survive and get out of their situation. It would not only save taxpayer money but will also help them get out of their situation and become productive members of society.

This will be incredibly difficult to carry out in practice. That is why politicians have resorted to just sending these individuals payments. However, it should certainly be looked into as if it can be achieved, it would be much more efficient and would prevent individuals from stealing taxpayer money.