I sense this thread might go wrong - I do not mean it to. I am not saying people should not receive the money, nor that they should be forced into work. I am just shocked at how much we would get!
Bit of background. My job is at risk so looking at worst case I wanted to see what we would be entitled to if I was made redundant. I expected it to be very very little.
I put our details into the tax credits website and based on me staying at home with the DC's and DH continuing to work full time we would get £600 a month 
. That is not considering any other benefits which we might be entitled to (DH earns around 18k)
Ok so that is not a huge amount of money to live on but after childcare costs that is more than I have left over after working full time in a well paid job!
I fully admit I enjoy my job and working. I also get more out of it than salary - pension, fulfillment, career advancement. Also, childcare costs are a relatively short term thing - in four years once all DC are in school they will come down considerably (they are very high at £1400 a month now).
I have no intention of leaving my job but it does make me wonder why I am missing my DC's, running round like a mad fool organising childcare and picks ups and am absolutely exhausted and dont have much time for myself when I am in the short term worse off financially.
It is nice to know there is the safety net though I guess although I now understand why some people make it a choice not to work (and I mean some not everyone who doesnt work, stays at home etc). I genuinely never expected it to be that much. I guess it will also be at risk with the current government.