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Benefit Fraud and Citizenship

In: Choice and Public Policy

Author

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  • Hartley Dean

    (University of Luton)

Abstract

To commit fraud is to exercise an illicit choice. Nobody openly approves of fraud, and yet between 75 and 92 per cent of us may regularly add to our incomes in ways which are, strictly speaking, illegal (Mars, 1994, p. 1). That fraud by state welfare recipients seems to be regarded as a rather particular problem reflects perhaps, not so much moral concern, as political disquiet: in Britain it has lately become as much an issue for the Labour Party (Guardian 11.6.96) as it has been a preoccupation of Conservative governments throughout the 1980s and ’90s (see Golding and Middleton, 1982; Smith, 1985; Deacon and Fairfoot, 1994; Sainsbury, 1996). Although the issues may be differently conceived, the disquiet which is shared across the political spectrum stems from common assumptions about the rationality of benefit recipients on the one hand, and about the changing nature of economic opportunities on the other. The concern is that people may choose to live by defrauding the benefit system at a time when labour markets are demanding greater flexibility and competitiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Hartley Dean, 1998. "Benefit Fraud and Citizenship," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Peter Taylor-Gooby (ed.), Choice and Public Policy, chapter 10, pages 183-200, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-26302-8_10
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-26302-8_10
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