It seems to me that increasingly any rise in wages and living standards does not trickle down as it used to and those at the bottom need to be assisted which is what I recall the point of in work benefits was? Still I could be wrong and the rise in the minimum wage will balance out their reduction / removal in the long run. There was a slight nagging feeling that their presence was allowing employers to pay less to some of their staff safe in the knowledge that everyone else would top up their wages for them.