How benefit claimants could pocket more than £120,000-a-year under 'warped' welfare system

By RHODRI MORGAN, DATA JOURNALIST and CAMERON ROY, DATA JOURNALIST Published: 19:18, 12 April 2026 | Updated: 19:18, 12 April 2026 Benefit claimants could earn as much as GPs under Britain's 'warped' welfare system, analysis suggests. Critics claimed the example posed by the Daily Mail – a healthy couple with three young children in central London, who could amass £70,000 worth of handouts – proves the system is 'broken' and 'welfarism has gone too far'. The hypothetical scenario is possible because of No 10's decision to ditch the two-child benefit cap, which sparked outrage when it was announced last autumn. For the purposes of our analysis, the couple intentionally earn £10,572 a year – the minimum required to entirely lift the benefit cap.  Their earnings are split straight down the middle, with both working an eight-hour day a week at minimum wage so they can effectively 'game' the system. Neither parent would need to pay tax or National Insurance. Because of their deliberately low income, they could get up to £26,000 in housing credits to wipe off their central London rent. Their situation entitles them to a three-bedroom property, with all their bills paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Your browser does not support iframes. Defined as a working family because both are technically employed, the couple are entitled to claim back 85 per cent of childcare fees – up to a maximum of £22,000. That is split to £1,836 per month – the maximum amount provided by the Government for households with two or more children. Under plans being rolled out later this year, the same couple would get an additional £736 for their third child. To claim childcare fees both parents need to be employed or starting a job within a month. However, official DWP guidance says 'it does not matter how many hours you or your partner work' suggesting there is nothing to stop the parents offloading childcare at taxpayer-expense despite working minimal hours. On top of that, the couple, in their 30s, would receive the standard Universal Credit allowance – £666.97 a month, or around £8,000 a year – and just shy of £11,000 from the child element, worth £303.94 per child every month. Another £3,200 would go their way because of the separate Child Benefit paid to all parents earning less than £60,000 a year before tax. They would, however, have to pay back 55p for each pound earned over Universal Credit's 'Work Allowance' – setting them back around £3,000. And they would fork out £3,900 to cover the rest of the childcare. All in all, they would get about £73,900 in benefits. For context, latest NHS statistics show GPs in England earn an average of £120,200 before tax, ending up with around £76,200.  But that would be even less when student loan or pension contributions are made. The UK median pre-tax full time salary is around £39,000, equivalent to around £2,600 per month after taxes. Your browser does not support iframes. Helen Whately, Tory work and pensions spokesman, told the Daily Mail: 'The rider has become heavier than the horse.  'Labour's failure to grip welfare has completely warped incentives and benefits earn you more than a job. 'Labour are weakening the link between effort and reward, making it easier to game the system than get on in work. 'Only the Conservatives have a plan to restore fairness, get a grip of the benefits bill, and get Britain working again.' Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'This exposes just how warped Britain's tax and welfare system has become under Labour, where doing the right thing can leave you worse off than opting out of work altogether. 'When an unemployed household can take home as much as a GP who's spent a decade training, it's a flashing red warning light that incentives are broken and welfarism has gone too far. 'Ministers must urgently restore the link between work and reward by tightening benefit caps, reining in welfare spending and cutting the punishing taxes on working people.' Joanna Marchong, of the Adam Smith Institute think-tank, said: 'It's hard to find this anything but shocking and illuminating to how out of balance the system is. 'Our welfare system is being abused, for ordinary taxpayers looking at those taking advantage, it's clear that work no longer pays. 'Ministers need to lower the tax burden on earners and ensure the welfare system supports only those who really need it and ultimately encourages people back into work.' Before the two-child benefit cap was officially ditched earlier this month, the same hypothetical family would get around £3,600 less in benefits. The Conservatives have previously criticised Labour's decision to scrap the cap, warning it will 'cost billions, reward worklessness and leave working families picking up the tab'. The Daily Mail understands that around 3,200 families received the maximum amount of the childcare element of Universal Credit in November 2025, the most recent set of figures. Your browser does not support iframes. The findings come after calculations from the Centre for Social Justice think-tank earlier this year suggested 6.2million workers – one in four of the workforce – would be better off on benefits. The CSJ calculated that an individual receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit with housing and health elements could get £25,200 a year. That is equivalent to a pre-tax salary of £30,100 – higher than the pay of 6.2million workers. The overall bill for sickness benefits is now set to reach £109billion by the end of the decade, the Office for Budget Responsibility warned at the Budget. Fears are now being raised that the UK is on track to spend more on health and disability benefits than any other G7 country. Labour attempted to knock £5billion off the nation's welfare bill last year, but was forced into a humiliating U-turn after an angry revolt by backbench MPs. Robert Jenrick, Nigel Farage's choice as future Chancellor if his party were to win the election, recently revealed that a Reform government would reinstate the two-child benefit cap and force those claiming disability payments on mental health grounds to prove they are sick before getting cash. The party has also pledged that only British nationals would be able to claim benefits. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said that she would also reinstate the two-child benefit cap, and the money saved would be spent on boosting the military. The Child Poverty Action Group charity said the cap affects one in nine children in the UK and is the 'single biggest driver of rising child poverty'. A DWP spokesman said: 'This is a highly unlikely, hypothetical example and we are clear that households in work should be consistently better off than households on benefits alone. 'Our reforms to the welfare system are prioritising fairness and opportunity, and include our recent changes to Universal Credit which are expected to save nearly £1billion by narrowing the gap between payments for people on health-related benefits and those actively seeking work. 'We have also just announced the laying of legislation which encourages people stranded on benefits to try work, and as part of our wider plans to Get Britain Working we have redeployed 1,000 work coaches to help thousands of sick and disabled people who were previously left without contact for years.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. 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