This can be seen from the middle graph of Figure 7.3, Panel A, which expresses the size of benefits in terms of a “tax rate” measure (and therefore shows negative values for benefits, see Box 7.1). In general, where benefits did become more or less targeted towards the poor since the mid-1980s, this did not change the overall trend in redistribution that would result from trends in average benefit rates alone. That said, benefits in the United Kingdom did, however, become less redistributive despite being now more tightly targeted towards the poor.