Why David Cameron's EU welfare plans may miss the point

John Springford of the CER, says it has been fairly successful in evening out so-called cliff edges—a trap that in the past meant that as people earned more their total household income fell because their welfare payments dropped. It is credited with keeping a lot of low-paid, low-skilled people in work, and raising their standards of living. ...Mr. Springford estimates the average Eastern European migrant—male, aged 32, married or cohabiting with one child and working full time in the southeast of England—earns £265 ($407) a week after tax, barely enough to cover his rent and bills. But tax credits would top that up by a further £305 a week.