Are you a Skiver or a Striver?

Are you a Skiver or a Striver? These two words have featured widely in the tabloid press and in the speeches of politicians over the last week. As the debate about the fairness of benefit cap continued.

Put simply the Skivers might be described are those who rely on benefits. And the Strivers are those who work.

But the trouble with labels like this is that life isn’t as simple.

The Skivers label implies that those on benefits were workshy or perhaps on the fiddle. Whereas some people receive benefits they are entitled because they work in low paid jobs. And very few benefit claimants are on the fiddle.

Although I spent much of my working life in the banking sector, for 4 years, whist training for ministry part time, I worked for a local council as the manager of a benefit fraud investigation team. It was our job to investigate people suspected of receiving benefit illegally. Each year we identified around 100 people in our borough who were “on the fiddle”. And this fraud amounted to perhaps a couple of hundred thousand pounds. Nationally, I’ve seen it estimated that there is around £3 billion of benefit fraud each year.

That’s a lot of money. And people need to be stopped from claiming benefits they are not entitled to.

But here’s an uncomfortable truth. Very few people receiving benefits are on the fiddle. And most people who are unemployed would prefer to be in work, not least because in many cases they’d be better off. I’m sure the 800 people just made redundant from Honda aren’t skivers.

But Strivers are far easier to identify aren’t they? They’re those who work hard to earn an honest crust. Unfortunately though I think some of the apparent Strivers are Skivers albeit in a different way.

As the benefit cap debate was happening, another news item caught my eye. Though it didn’t get much publicity. Accountancy firm BDO published a report in which they estimated that £10 billion a year in VAT was being lost, of which £3.3 billion was down to VAT fraud.

In the same report HM Revenue & Customs are quoted as estimating that the total tax gap each year is £32bn. That is, the tax not paid as corporation tax, VAT and by individuals in the UK amounts to £32 billion a year.


As the saying goes “What would Jesus do?” The trouble is a search of the Bible shows that Jesus was silent on the matter of multinational companies avoiding paying corporation tax. Though he did say people were to pay just taxes. And he said nothing about people on benefits.

But he had plenty to say about rich people and poor people. In 25 places in the New Testament he talks of the poor and how they should be treated. In 20 places he talks about the rich how they should use their wealth. So we can draw a pretty good idea about what his feelings would be about our situation today. Firstly, he wouldn’t use the terms Skiver and Striver as he showed respect to all people. And put simply, Jesus’ stance would be that the poor must be cared for, and the rich should use their money wisely and justly.

In fact Jesus’ starting point was for ALL people to act fairly and justly. In our context that would mean people only claiming benefits they are entitled to and those benefits being at a fair level. And rich people paying the taxes they (and their companies) are supposed to pay.

600 or so years before Jesus a prophet by the name of Micah wrote these words:
Micah 6:8 New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Or as a modern translation of the Bible puts it:

Micah 6:8 The Message (MSG)

8 But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what GOD is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

Wise words for Strivers and Skivers alike.