A record 36 million people in Britain now live in households that receive more benefits from the state—including free education and health care—than they contribute in tax, according to a report by the think tank Civitas.
Civitas analysed data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) from 2020/21 and found 54.2 percent of individuals were dependent on the state, although those figures would have included furlough payments and other benefits related to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which took place in Britain from March 2020.
In their report (pdf), Tim Knox and Daniel Lilley said the “net dependency ratio” was the highest on record and the long-term trend was upwards….