By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 13:04 EST, 7 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:54 EST, 7 November 2013 . Scores of families were given the equivalent of a £60,000 salary in benefits until a cap on payments was introduced, it has emerged. More than 19,000 households saw their benefits cut when the £500-a-week limit came into force in April, Department for Work and Pensions figures show. More than 100 had been getting £800 a week, equivalent to a pre-tax salary of £60,000. Seventeen households got more than £900. Ministers said 18,000 people had found jobs since being told they might face a cap 18 months ago. Dozens of households received more than £800-a-week and 17 families were paid £900 or more . Jobcentre: Ministers hope that capping benefits will persuade thousands of people to find work instead . The Department for Work and Pensions released latest figures for the number of people affected by the policy to cap benefits at £26,000 or £500-a-week – the average household income before tax. Ministers argue it is not fair for someone who does not work to have more money than the average person who does have a job. Between the cap being introduced in April and September, 19,276 households have had benefits capped. Of those still affected by the cap in September, just over 300 received more than £700-a-week, or the equivalent of £40,000. Welfare minister Lord Freud said the cap was sending a 'clear message; to those on benefits . Someone in work would need to have a salary of around £60,000 before tax to take home the same amount. Some 17 household receives more than £900-a-week, or £46,800-a-year. A worker with a salary of £70,000 would take home £47,563 after tax and national insurance. More than 7,700 families hit by the cap had more than five children, the largest group of households affected. Welfare Reform minister Lord Freud, said: ‘The benefit cap sends a very clear message that there is a limit to how much the welfare state will provide at £500 a week. ‘We are providing people with a strong incentive to move into work – with our Jobcentre teams now having helped claimants facing the cap for 18 months. ‘It is impressive that 18,000 potentially capped claimants have moved into work and almost 36,000 have accepted Jobcentre Plus help. ‘The benefit cap, along with Universal Credit, will return fairness to the welfare system and ensure that work pays.’ The benefit cap is set at £500 a week for couples, with or without children, and single parents. An adult living alone is limited to £350-a-week. So far 354 such people have been capped. Separate figures today show the chance of being made unemployed is still higher than before the recession. The rate of workers who lose their jobs in each quarter is still higher than before the recession, the Office for National Statistics said . The number of people moving back into work now outnumbers those losing their jobs, the Office for National Statistics said. But . the ‘hazard rate’ of workers being made unemployed remains above the . level seen four years ago, with the under-25s and shop workers most at . risk. From April to June 2013, there were . around 28.8 million people aged 16-64 in work, while 404,000 moved were . sacked, made redundant or had their contract ended. It means the chance of being employed in one time period and unemployed in the next was about 1.4 in 100. This ‘hazard of unemployment’ means . 1.4 per cent of people in a job were made unemployed between the first . quarter of 2013 and the second quarter. Figures . for the last decade show the hazard rate peaked at 1.9 per cent in the . first six months of 2009, as the effects of the recession saw almost two . in every hundred workers made unemployed.
Dozens received more than £800-a-week in welfare payments, figures show .
Ministers say 36,000 told they would have benefits cut sought work instead .
Lord Freud says £500-a-week limit 'sends a clear message' to claimants .
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 13:04 EST, 7 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:54 EST, 7 November 2013 . Scores of families were given the equivalent of a £60,000 salary in benefits until a cap on payments was introduced, it has emerged. More than 19,000 households saw their benefits cut when the £500-a-week limit came into force in April, Department for Work and Pensions figures show. More than 100 had been getting £800 a week, equivalent to a pre-tax salary of £60,000. Seventeen households got more than £900. Ministers said 18,000 people had found jobs since being told they might face a cap 18 months ago. Dozens of households received more than £800-a-week and 17 families were paid £900 or more . Jobcentre: Ministers hope that capping benefits will persuade thousands of people to find work instead . The Department for Work and Pensions released latest figures for the number of people affected by the policy to cap benefits at £26,000 or £500-a-week – the average household income before tax. Ministers argue it is not fair for someone who does not work to have more money than the average person who does have a job. Between the cap being introduced in April and September, 19,276 households have had benefits capped. Of those still affected by the cap in September, just over 300 received more than £700-a-week, or the equivalent of £40,000. Welfare minister Lord Freud said the cap was sending a 'clear message; to those on benefits . Someone in work would need to have a salary of around £60,000 before tax to take home the same amount. Some 17 household receives more than £900-a-week, or £46,800-a-year. A worker with a salary of £70,000 would take home £47,563 after tax and national insurance. More than 7,700 families hit by the cap had more than five children, the largest group of households affected. Welfare Reform minister Lord Freud, said: ‘The benefit cap sends a very clear message that there is a limit to how much the welfare state will provide at £500 a week. ‘We are providing people with a strong incentive to move into work – with our Jobcentre teams now having helped claimants facing the cap for 18 months. ‘It is impressive that 18,000 potentially capped claimants have moved into work and almost 36,000 have accepted Jobcentre Plus help. ‘The benefit cap, along with Universal Credit, will return fairness to the welfare system and ensure that work pays.’ The benefit cap is set at £500 a week for couples, with or without children, and single parents. An adult living alone is limited to £350-a-week. So far 354 such people have been capped. Separate figures today show the chance of being made unemployed is still higher than before the recession. The rate of workers who lose their jobs in each quarter is still higher than before the recession, the Office for National Statistics said . The number of people moving back into work now outnumbers those losing their jobs, the Office for National Statistics said. But . the ‘hazard rate’ of workers being made unemployed remains above the . level seen four years ago, with the under-25s and shop workers most at . risk. From April to June 2013, there were . around 28.8 million people aged 16-64 in work, while 404,000 moved were . sacked, made redundant or had their contract ended. It means the chance of being employed in one time period and unemployed in the next was about 1.4 in 100. This ‘hazard of unemployment’ means . 1.4 per cent of people in a job were made unemployed between the first . quarter of 2013 and the second quarter. Figures . for the last decade show the hazard rate peaked at 1.9 per cent in the . first six months of 2009, as the effects of the recession saw almost two . in every hundred workers made unemployed.
£500-a-week limit came into force in April, Department for Work and Pensions figures show. Dozens of households received more than find work instead . The Department for Work and sending a 'clear message; to those on benefits . affected. Welfare Reform minister Lord Freud,