DWP: Government benefits cap pushes job applications up by a third

The Department for Work and Pensions has said its benefits cap has led to a third of people submitting more job applications while. The DWP also said one in five went to more interviews as a result of the reforms.

The DWP said 27,000 families in the UK have been affected by the cap. According to a series of studies, those affected were were 41% more likely to get a job than people who were unaffected.

"[The welfare reforms] are encouraging people into work," said Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

"By putting an end to runaway benefit claims and introducing a system which guarantees you will always be better off in work, we are incentivising people to find employment.

"Every month hundreds of people who have been affected by the cap are making the positive move into work - gaining the financial security and esteem that comes with a job and a pay packet," he said.

The welfare reforms came into force in the summer of 2013. These limit the benefits that households can receive to £500 (€632, $787) per week.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the benefits cap affects less than 1% of working-age families receiving housing benefit and only saves the government about £100m. This equates to 0.5% of the total spending on housing benefit.