The portrayal of welfare recipients in British media is by no means a uniform picture, and this is also true for the recipients of welfare. However, the mass reporting and slandering of a certain type of welfare recipient by the tabloid and right-leaning organisations do not portray the extent of the social problems faced by this subset. The constant bombardment the people of Britain endure from these media organisation, depicting welfare recipients as scheming, scrounging rats (among other terms) that abuse and manipulate the system has an obvious effect on the view of who is ‘worthy’ of welfare benefit. However, the misguided nature of these claims creates a strong image that is almost entirely wrong, and most definitely harmful to the overall
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This article paints a picture of the welfare recipient, more specifically, the unemployed, working-age, able-bodied welfare recipient as a certain type of poor. The term could almost be synonymous with ‘undesirables’ as he identified the underclass as “people at the margins of society, unsocialised and often violent. The chronic criminal is part of the underclass, especially the violent chronic criminal.” (Sunday Times, 2014) He also detailed how these people come from families that relied on the state for generations. However, this is unfair, as statistics show that only that less than half of those that claim Jobseekers Allowance (Unemployment Benefit) claim it for more than thirteen weeks, and less than 10% claim for over a year (Baumberg, Bell & Gaffney, 2013). Despite this, Murray’s basic concept has become a more popular view in Britain over time, as people have slowly come to see certain groups as ‘less-worthy’ of welfare benefit (National Centre for Social Research, 2016). This idea is fairly reflective of the welfare recipient that many news media outlets choose to portray within Britain. ‘The Sun’ is a stellar example of the stereotypical tabloid slating benefits claimants, legitimate or not. The Sun’s website is filled with writing which belittles a benefit claimant, and feeds upon the previously mentioned animosity already present within British society. …show more content…
The idea of Charles Murray’s underclass, has been perpetuated through years of the media reporting on the ‘scroungers’ existing off Welfare benefits. The papers have fed upon a view that has been prevalent since the post-thatcher era, and studies of the mentality of the British people in the last twenty years have shown that the symbiotic relationship has caused these feelings to grow. However, benefit fraud isn’t as large a problem as many perceive it to be, and living off benefits is far from lucrative, and so it becomes obvious that the Welfare state is very much misrepresented by the media. Not only this, but those that receive welfare do not fall into a single, simple group, as there is a wide variety of people that benefit from the welfare state, and some papers, more commonly left-leaning broadsheet newspapers, accept this and attempt to report more proportionately. Overall, however, the British public’s view of the welfare state cannot be described as accurate, and much of this is due to the
This article paints a picture of the welfare recipient, more specifically, the unemployed, working-age, able-bodied welfare recipient as a certain type of poor. The term could almost be synonymous with ‘undesirables’ as he identified the underclass as “people at the margins of society, unsocialised and often violent. The chronic criminal is part of the underclass, especially the violent chronic criminal.” (Sunday Times, 2014) He also detailed how these people come from families that relied on the state for generations. However, this is unfair, as statistics show that only that less than half of those that claim Jobseekers Allowance (Unemployment Benefit) claim it for more than thirteen weeks, and less than 10% claim for over a year (Baumberg, Bell & Gaffney, 2013). Despite this, Murray’s basic concept has become a more popular view in Britain over time, as people have slowly come to see certain groups as ‘less-worthy’ of welfare benefit (National Centre for Social Research, 2016). This idea is fairly reflective of the welfare recipient that many news media outlets choose to portray within Britain. ‘The Sun’ is a stellar example of the stereotypical tabloid slating benefits claimants, legitimate or not. The Sun’s website is filled with writing which belittles a benefit claimant, and feeds upon the previously mentioned animosity already present within British society. …show more content…
The idea of Charles Murray’s underclass, has been perpetuated through years of the media reporting on the ‘scroungers’ existing off Welfare benefits. The papers have fed upon a view that has been prevalent since the post-thatcher era, and studies of the mentality of the British people in the last twenty years have shown that the symbiotic relationship has caused these feelings to grow. However, benefit fraud isn’t as large a problem as many perceive it to be, and living off benefits is far from lucrative, and so it becomes obvious that the Welfare state is very much misrepresented by the media. Not only this, but those that receive welfare do not fall into a single, simple group, as there is a wide variety of people that benefit from the welfare state, and some papers, more commonly left-leaning broadsheet newspapers, accept this and attempt to report more proportionately. Overall, however, the British public’s view of the welfare state cannot be described as accurate, and much of this is due to the