The benefits system is a mess and crippling the economy. It is just not right that hard working people should be paying for able bodied people to stay at home and take, take, take.
The lack of morality in this country is quite sickening.
Take this scenario - young woman shags and gets pregnant 'by accident' (no, you shagged). She can't afford to support her child, so goes on benefits (so far, not too much of a problem because she didn't mean it and it's not exactly the kid's fault). She gets bored by not having much to do apart from making up bottles for her child - so she shags again and again while taking her 'career' break. More kids to be looked after by the state.
Why can't people make sure they can afford to bring up their children before having them? For us, it was something we clearly thought about before getting pregnant. Yes, we had to make some sacrifices, but the basic numbers did add up. Because our budgets were tight, we had a few hiccups along the way - but we managed without asking for hand-outs.
There are many, many deserving people who rely on benefits (particularly disabled people and their carers, and widows), but the freeloaders really drags the whole system down. The system has to err on the side of giving too much so that those who really need and deserve it don't lose out, but it is getting to be a joke now.
As for CTC and EMA - scrap them both. The administration costs are beyond belief. Let everyone have a claim, without arbitrary cut offs and adjust tax allowances and rates accordingly.
The taxation system is obviously used to raise public funds, but it is also there to influence behaviour. The last thing any decent government should do is endorse an 'anything goes' lifestyle. All that has led to is feral children and more.