More than a fifth of people on unemployment benefits have a criminal record, government figures have revealed. The new data showed an estimated 22 per cent of all people claiming out of work claimants - such as Jobseeker’s Allowance - were made by people

More than a fifth of people on unemployment benefits have a criminal record, government figures have revealed.
The new data showed an estimated 22 per cent of all people claiming out of work claimants - such as Jobseeker’s Allowance - were made by people who had been to prison or convicted of an offence in the previous 12 years.
The study - which was described as “experimental” - compared 4.3 million offenders in England and Wales whose names appeared in court records or the Police National Computer with separate benefits records held by the Department for Work and Pensions.
In all, more than 1.1 million of the 5.2 million people claiming out-of-work benefits had a criminal record, or 22 per cent.
The new figures showed the proportion of claimants with a criminal past across all types of benefits including the state pension was much lower, at 7 per cent.

Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, is pushing through reforms which aim to provide more support to offenders who are released from jail back into the community.
Jeremy Wright, the justice minister, said: “We are committed to delivering long-needed changes that will see all offenders released from prison receive targeted support to finally turn themselves around and start contributing to society.”
The figures also showed 44 per cent of offenders were claiming benefits a month after being convicted, cautioned or released from jail.
More than half of offenders - 54 per cent - released from prison were claiming out-of-work benefits one month later, gradually decreasing to 42 per cent two years after.
In all, 214,000 people claiming out-of-work benefits had been to prison at least once in the previous 12 years, or 4 per cent of the total.
Previous data published in 2011 estimated the proportion of criminal claimants was slightly higher, at 26 per cent, but a Ministry of Justice spokesman said the sets of figures were not directly comparable

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10607071/Fifth-of-unemployment-benefit-claimants-have-criminal-record-say-new-figures.html

So, seeing as 30 percent of British men have a criminal record, and 20 percent of the overall population does, what's the big deal?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers.observercashsection

http://www.kgbanswers.co.uk/what-proportion-of-british-adults-have-a-criminal-conviction/2634639

Ben_Reilly wrote:So, seeing as 30 percent of British men have a criminal record, and 20 percent of the overall population does, what's the big deal?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers.observercashsection

http://www.kgbanswers.co.uk/what-proportion-of-british-adults-have-a-criminal-conviction/2634639

I think it shows if you had read the article that we need to do more to help people when they come out of Jail or who have a criminal record to get into work.

That is what I read from this

@Phil

Apparently you don't  :::grouch::  :::grouch::  :::grouch::  but it is probably a good idea      

Indeed Veya lol

The point is and as we see arguments about criminals reoffending, if little is being done to help people who have served their punishment back into work, then it increases the chances of them reoffending again.

we have similar issues here, the main issue is if an employer is given the choice between someone with and someone with out a conviction (and all else is relatively equal) they are obviously going to choose the non-convict.

That's the market for you    hard to fix it with out giving unfair advantage to criminals, But at the same time I do think something needs to be worked out to get people back into the work force.  ::dunno::  ::dunno::  ::dunno::

Not to mention, the businesses most likely to give jobs to convicts are probably a bit shady themselves?

What needs to be made clear is whether the person in question was on benefits then committed crime or the other way around.

I believe you'll find they were benefits recipients all along.

BigAndy9 wrote:What needs to be made clear is whether the person in question was on benefits then committed crime or the other way around.

I believe you'll find they were benefits recipients all along.

Quite possibly, The Statistics support that analysis  :::grouch::  :::grouch:: 
 ...but it is harder to find work if you have been in prison also.  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::

it would probably fair to argue 20% off the whole population have a criminal record of some sort.

Ben_Reilly wrote:So, seeing as 30 percent of British men have a criminal record, and 20 percent of the overall population does, what's the big deal?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers.observercashsection

http://www.kgbanswers.co.uk/what-proportion-of-british-adults-have-a-criminal-conviction/2634639

@father
I think you missed bens post   
it is higher if you just look at men       

That's why the statistic agree, criminal record doesn't seem to be a contributing factor to Benefits claims as the rate is the same (close enough)

veya_victaous wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:So, seeing as 30 percent of British men have a criminal record, and 20 percent of the overall population does, what's the big deal?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers.observercashsection

http://www.kgbanswers.co.uk/what-proportion-of-british-adults-have-a-criminal-conviction/2634639

@father
I think you missed bens post   
it is higher if you just look at men       

That's why the statistic agree, criminal record doesn't seem to be a contributing factor to Benefits claims as the rate is the same (close enough)

oops yeah i Did miss the post..lol it just shows statistics can say whay ever you want them too really, which is probably why governments like them so much.