7.4 million people claim some form of disability or incapacity benefits

[MidnightPatrol]

Given the various back and forth of discussion on the reduction in disability and incapacity benefits, not much data on the debate has been shared - it’s a mainly emotional debate.

So for context, the figures:

• 7.4 million people claim sickness benefits of some kind
• The total number of claimants has increased by a third in five years (up 1.8 million)
• 1 in 10 working age adults claims, and 1 in 12 school aged children
• 1.2 million people aged under 25 claim sickness benefits, a rise of two thirds in 5 years - 1 in 15 claiming something
• 4 million adults claim sickness benefit of some kind, up from 2.8 million in 2019. Two thirds of that increase is people under 50.
• 2.5 million people claim UC health benefits, up 500k people this year alone - in 2019 less than 500k people claimed this
• 1.8 million have no requirement to look for work
• Sickness benefits for working age adults are expected to cost £70b by 2030 - a third of the cost of the NHS

I totally agree. Excellent to the point post !

I have assisted someone through the process. I believe I could claim successfully (may need to go to tribunal but ultimately I think I would win). I absolutely shouldn't claim PIP!

Don't get me wrong, I would need to build up a body of evidence with GP visit etc. It's not easy to do but it absolutely isn't impossible.

I also wonder if people are being double counted.
Count 1 PIP claim
Count 2 UC claim - not capable for work.

There is also the fact that people survive

Even in my own family of 3.
DC, 20 years ago would have died without the surgery they've didn't exist pre 2005

I have epilepsy, in the 60s I would have been in an institution.

My DH had a tumour not that long ago he would have died from it and not been fit healthy and working now.

Similar to me- I was bimbling along on tax credits ,working part time (s/e), being a f/t LP and doing fine. Now I've had to migrate to UC I've had to get a fit note saying I can only work a 20 hour week, which seems to remove any hours- based requirement. I'm working just as much as I've been working for years- more in fact, as the business gradually becomes more successful and the DC get older- and I'm not costing the state any more than when I was on tax credits- but now I'm a statistic 🤷‍♀️

Over one million of those claimants are foreign nationals. They claim £7.5 billion/year.

UPFs, microplastics and forever chemicals are making us sick.

Funny that the number of those claiming has jumped so much in the last 5 years. Could it be that there has been some kind of major public health emergency during that period to make millions of people more unwell? 🤔

Nah, only joking, everyone knows it's scroungers pretending to have ADHD...🙄

Well if so many are on sickness benefit the solution is obvious- improve access to healthcare so they will get treatment quickly and come back to work.
I don’t think we can manage to cure miraculously those who get PIP for life long disabilities e.g those who are blind. But government can improve the system so those who are waiting for treatment will get it asap.
Im also eagerly waiting government’s proposals about flexibility of working. A lot of people are on benefits and not working because they cant find part time job which are flexible enough and still pay something meaningful.

Are the Government going to make some sort of announcement soon about how to tackle the increasing benefit bill?

So perhaps see what they say first?

I think the key point from the stats is that regardless of whether you think benefits claimants are all utterly deserving or terrible scroungers, the taxpayer cannot afford the system we currently have. So the question is how can we either increase tax revenue or reduce the benefits bill.

These are really complex questions because basic answers like ‘increase taxes’ or ‘cut PIP’ sometimes lead to unintended consequences (like people working less to avoid tax etc).

Personally I think the state of public health/the NHS has a lot to answer for. I also think there is a cultural malaise, it’s too easy to stay on benefits forever and we don’t expect enough of employers to keep people in work.

Tomorrow.

People can be working, paying tax and also be disabled or have a disabled child.

If you don’t have a disability, that’s your good luck, not your superiority.

Maybe the Government need to address the reasons why so many are off sick instead of demonising them. If someone is off due to stress then adding to that stress by cutting benefits isn't going to make them better anytime soon is it?

How can we get people to be more resilient?
If we don't then society will collapse.

I mean if I had the choice between working a 40 hour minimum wage job in a call centre putting up with all kinds of abuse or getting roughly the same kind of money on UC and sickness benefits for 'depression and anxiety', I know which I'd choose.

Yes long Covid and possible vaccine injury from the MNRA vaccines. There is an excess death rate too which actually should reduce the number of claimants. Whether the excess death rate is from COVID, vaccine injury or something else they can't say. But we're not healthy! My son is claiming UC, can't work due to CFS, evidence of nerve damage. Neurologist says possibly long Covid, stress or lyme disease from untreated tick bite.

I'm not surprised if many more people are mentally unwell. Life feels pretty unsustainable for many and they are having to work multiple jobs to barely pay basic living costs and to live somewhere horrible they can be turfed out of at any time, then requiring them to find more money they don't have to move elsewhere.

If governments want fewer people on benefits then they should make big employers less reliant on benefits by making them pay living wages and getting them to employ enough people to do the work rather than overwhelming the people they do have.

I developed long covid 5 years ago; bed bound for a year and have slowly improved but still have periods of poor health including pain and the inability to walk. I don't claim any benefit and rely on my husband. I realise I'm fortunate to be able to do that but for those without that backup, I can totally understand them needing PIP etc. The government are ignoring the 2 million people struggling with this condition.

You wouldn’t necessarily know. Most people would have no idea about my child’s disability unless you happens to speak to me when they had recently been in hospital or you paid particular attention to certain processes.

I feel as though I need tips on this because i haven’t managed to get any help despite the fact I clearly need it. Is there a way to find out how to work the system? I feel like the people who do this could possibly make a very good living selling courses..

PIP is not an out of work benefit it goes to people in work too. It's to cover the extra costs disabled people face like higher transport costs (when transport is inaccessible) specialist clothing and foods.

2 MILLION people have long covid in the uk, 1.5 million say it affects their day to day living. How could there not be more people needing support. Then add all the people who were damaged by lockdown and delayed medical treatment during the pandemic. On top of that people survive but are not “back to normal”, far more things and we are living longer and our population as a whole is aging. Nobody is saying it’s easy, but I’ve been to places where there is no support and personally I don’t want that for us here.

1 in 12 children sounds about right.

You need to remember that there are different rates depending on severity of needs and disability.

Lots of those children in that statistic will receive low rate DLA which is less than child benefit.

Plenty of those children will be in homes where one or both parents are working full-time as well.

DDs DLA runs out this month, she's aged out of it. Still needs intensive SALT but won't qualify for PIP and there's no NHS speech and lang provision at her age. That's £120 a week, like you we get middle rate DLA so doesn't even cover it. Our friends in Germany get far far more intensive support from their health system, much earlier on and for much longer. They don't need to apply for benefits. The reason the system is so in demand, esp DLA, is because there's nothing in the health service for families of disabled kids.

The chap that proudly told my DH he’s never had a full time job does cash in hand jobs as and when, his wife is on disability benefits due to her arthritis but also works as a cleaner cash in hand . He is b happy with his lot.