Is it merely prejudice that makes us unsurprised when we hear or read that a crime was committed by a person on a benefit?
According to the 2001 Census of prison inmates 69 percent of female prisoners were on a benefit prior to entering prison. The equivalent figure for males was 39 percent.
That equates to 1,807 prisoners or 44 percent.
If the prison population proportionately reflected the working-age population there should only be 614 prisoners who were previously on a benefit. The public perception, via the media, that people who commit crimes are frequently beneficiaries, is founded in fact.
For balance it has to be said that only o.6 percent of all working-age people on a benefit end up in prison. The percentage for the non-beneficiary working-age population (15+) is 0.07 percent.
Statistically speaking a beneficiary is nine times more likely to end up in prison.
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1 comment:
A beneficiary is not umpteen times poorer than a working person. That's half the problem. It's not worth getting a job.
"Poverty = crime"
You seem to be using crime synonomously with imprisonment. So, which is the richest country in the world (apart from Luxembourg)? Which country has the highest imprisonment rate in the developed world?
Our parents and grandparents (in their day) saw much greater poverty than we ever will but they didn't see the crime.
Thanks for your comment.
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