"living in benefits isn't the life of Riley and glad to see someone make that point."

No it isn't, at least one of my friends (who has a minor disability) supplements her income by (gasp!) dealing drugs.. No not crack cocaine outside the school gates, stuff like Weed, E or K, to grown-up festival goers mainly during the Summer festival scene. In point of fact, that's pretty normal. Others will use other means, like odd jobbing for cash in pubs, or gardening and cleaning for middle-class folk). However back to the point, while living on benefits might not be the life of riley, it can still actually work out better than trying to pay the rent on a low income. Considering how much it costs to rent privately (baring in mind that the bulk of affordable social housing stock is mostly in private ownership now), and considering how little income a minimum wage job will bring home, the working poor in this country can often be the worst off financially of the lot - hence the phrase "can't afford to work".