ONE IN 10 NOW ON SICKNESS BENEFITS AS EXPERTS SEARCH FOR ANSWERS
One in 10 adults of working age are on sickness benefits amid a surge in claims for mental health conditions, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The number of people aged 16 to 64 claiming incapacity, disability benefits or both jumped from 2.8m before the pandemic to 3.9m now, the think tank said. The figures cover benefits paid to both people in jobs and those who are too ill to work.
The surge has been driven by more claims by young people and a rapid rise in mental health-related claims among all ages. Women also make up a rising share of disability claims.
The number of under-40s lodging new applications for sickness benefits has risen by 150pc since the pandemic, rising from 4,500 to 11,500 a month.
Over the same period, the number of new claims for mental health conditions among all ages has more than tripled from 3,900 per month to 12,100. More than a third of all claims are for mental health conditions, up from 28pc pre-pandemic.
The sharp increase will fuel concerns about the mental impact of lockdown, particularly on young people whose education and development were disrupted by the pandemic.
The figures present a significant problem for public finances. The annual cost of incapacity and disability benefits for working-age people has risen from £36bn to £48bn since the start of the pandemic – a 33pc increase in just four years.
The bill will rise to £63bn by 2028 to 2029 as the crisis worsens, the IFS forecasts, meaning a record 2.1pc of GDP will be spent on sickness benefits.
The IFS said: “The UK will likely become one of the highest spenders on health-related benefits amongst comparable countries.”
Sir Keir Starmer promised to tackle the “mental health epidemic” in Labour’s election manifesto with the aim of getting people back into work, promising more mental health workers and support in schools.
“Too many people are out of work or not earning enough. Long waits for treatment of health conditions, particularly mental health, are contributing to the rise in economic inactivity,” the manifesto said.
Around a quarter of those claiming disability benefits are in work, the IFS said, while just one in eight incapacity claimants are working. Of those who have jobs, around half are in part-time employment.
Ministers have pledged to cut NHS waiting lists to stop problems worsening and inflating the benefits bill when people become too sick to work.
James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary in the running to be the leader of the Conservative Party, said: “The welfare budget has spiralled out of control, in a way that other countries haven’t seen. We are quickly becoming the sick man of Europe and the taxpayer is footing the bill. This is not sustainable.”
The IFS said options for the Government included cutting NHS waiting lists, helping the disabled into work, making it harder to access benefits or simply accepting a rising bill.
“None of these options is obvious or easy, and a lack of clarity on what is behind the rise in the number of claimants only makes the Government’s job harder,” the think tank said.
Robert Jenrick, also running for the Tory leadership, said: “People are being deprived of the dignity of work and the taxpayer is being forced to pick up the spiralling bill.
“We set out and began enacting the reforms like tightening eligibility needed to fix this problem. Labour must commit to continuing these reforms. If they don’t, we risk unsustainable fiscal pressures.”
Worryingly for ministers, the IFS report suggests Britain’s sickness problem is unique among peers.
Eduin Latimer, an IFS economist and an author of the report, said: “Two simple candidate explanations – that this is just driven by the pandemic or the cost-of-living crisis – are hard to square with the lack of similar trends elsewhere.
“It seems likely that these shocks have played a role, but it may be that they have an outsized effect in the UK – perhaps because of difficulties in accessing NHS treatments or the relatively low level of basic unemployment support in the UK.
“The crucial point is that it is not yet known what factors are driving this increase. Figuring out what is behind the recent rise must surely be a top priority for the Government if it is going to be able to respond appropriately.”
Benefits such as personal independence payments are not means-tested, so can be given to those who are in work. However, the IFS figures come alongside a worklessness crisis that is being fuelled by ill-health.
There are now 9.3m adults aged under 65 who are neither in work nor looking for a job, according to the Office for National Statistics. Of those, 2.8m cite long-term sickness as the reason, up from 2.1m before the pandemic.
A government spokesman said: “This is another example of the dire inheritance this Government faces – too many people are trapped on benefits and are being denied the opportunities they deserve due to ill health.
“We will deliver the change the country is crying out for by creating more jobs, making work pay and transforming skills, while reforming job centres and giving local areas the power they need to tackle economic inactivity.
“Cutting NHS waiting lists and addressing the social determinants of health is also key to getting Britain well and back to work.”
2024-09-18T23:02:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd