Social benefit dependents on the decline

In the same year when the country has reached a record in economic growth, the number of people depending of social benefits to survive has dropped by nearly 40% since 2013.

Moreover, the rate of unemployment is the lowest it has ever been since data started being collected. This is reflected by the fact that the number of people asking for unemployment benefits and other special benefits from 2,694 in 2013 to 384, and from 6,119 to 3,554 respectively. In other words, dependents on these benefits have dropped by over half.

This means that that the amount of tax money spent on social benefits has been reduced by 14%. As a result, the government was able to introduce other social benefits without increasing the deficit. Among other things over a 1, 000 people have enjoyed the In-Work Benefit since the beginning of the year. Another effect is 12, 000 pensioners which are benefiting from an increase in their pensions in accordance to the rise in the cost of living.