One in two voters is fully reliant on public welfare, page-61

If your income falls, you cut back on spending

Not always. Some will remortgage the house to bide them some time.
Release the equity so they can continue to send the kids to private school and worry about the financial consequences later.
With a bit of hard work it can turn out alright in the end.
The ones who get into trouble might be those who start using the credit card to make the mortgage repayments.