Benefits reform "still off the radar" academic claims

The author of a report two years ago that indicated some families were better off on the dole than working said yesterday that reform of the system was "still completely off the political radar".

Dutchman Richard Tol compiled a report in 2012 for the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which suggested 44% of working parents would be better off on benefits due to factors such as high child-minding costs.

A new ESRI paper has been published and makes a similar claim, even though Prof Tol’s original report was withdrawn by the institute in 2012 amid claims it contained “serious methodological issues”.