New figures for 2013 highlight the reason why the Oldham traditional family unit section of the population seems indifferent about average wage rates that are some 20.3% below the national average. In 2013 10,300 ‘working families’ in Oldham each received an annualised average £9,796 in tax credits. Almost ten thousand pounds on top of a wage is a staggering amount of in-work benefits that totally negates any Income Tax, National Insurance, Council Tax & a large proportion of VAT paid on goods & services. 7,400 out of work families each received an annualised £6,482 in tax credits. 2,400 working families with no children received an annualised average £2,542 in tax credits. When universal credit completely takes over in the UK benefit system it will no longer be possible to access benefit statistics by type & amount and the spiraling costs & inequality inherent in the tax credits system will be lost as it becomes a part of the whole.
