A breakdown example of a family receiving weekly benefits at the capped level from the huffpost
"£392.31 for rent (the allowable rent for Tolworth, typical of a cheaper property)
£39.06 for council tax (Kingston Council, Band E)
£28.18 for gas and electricity (DECC English average + 20% for large family, in 2011 £s
£7.21 for water (OfWAT UK average + 20% for large family)
£6.00 for telephone/broadband - the cheapest BT anytime package
Starting from £500 means that you have £26.23 per week left over for the family, which is 62p per person per day to the nearest penny.
We can argue over these exact figures. Clearly the family could choose to be cold, or to shower infrequently to save money. But against that, private rented housing is typically less well insulated, the family are at home every day, so energy bills may be larger still. I have not included a mobile phone, or any calls to mobile phones, or to 08 numbers not included in the basic package.
In any case, even after rent and council tax, the family has only £1.64 per person per day to live on. No alternative figures will make any difference: this is simply not a living income for a family with four children in private rented accommodation in a cheap part of outer London"
The vast majority of claimants are not 'lifestyle' claimants, and frankly who the hell would want that as a lifestyle?
This example family could easily be a family affected by the constant redundancies that are ongoing, ergo they had their children back when they could afford to.