Can we ever really tackle rising public spending?
Analysis
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Government Spending Rises With It
Since GDP tends to rise over time, that means public spending rises with it. The bigger single item is social protection or welfare which is around £300 billion. A lot of that is going on the state pension so people who have been paying into the system through national insurance their entire lives have an income in later life. In the long run, if benefits are designed to replace wages, then since wages increase over time, so will benefits.
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