Whilst there’s a worthwhile debate to be had around welfare fraud, chasing ‘benefits cheats’ misses the bigger picture

Benefit recipients are often portrayed negatively by politicians and the media. But if ‘balancing the books’ is the government’s primary aim, demonising specific groups is unlikely to be productive. David Binder suggests increasing the housing supply, introducing rent controls and looking into ways to boost incomes to reduce the need for tax credits would be a more effective approach.