Are ADHD benefit claims and work exemptions becoming too widespread?

[JoyousOpalLemur]

This was the top story on LBC this morning.

The number of people who get benefits for ADHD so they don't have to work has gone up by a staggering 40% in just the last two years.

The taxpayer now funds more than 100,000 people to not work because their ADHD makes work too difficult for them.

About 40% of them receive the top rate of daily living and motability allowance - £194 a week - and that's on top of several other benefits. Those who receive this do not have to look for work. This is now costing the taxpayer billions of pounds per year. Most of the beneficiaries are young people.

This is absolutely bonkers!

I know someone very well who receives these PIP payments for ADHD so she doesn't have to work. She's got a lovely flat in London that most people her age couldn't afford.

Her main argument is that her ADHD means she can't work, because it's "literally impossible" for her to follow time and transport rules - which means she never turns up on time at appointments, and often will call about two hours later saying she thought the appointment was a different time, and she's got lost finding it and is nowhere near.

That is true - she does do that a lot. However, she also goes on holiday several times a year. And I've never known her to once fail to make the holiday. Her track record of getting to the airport at the right time appears to be 100%!

This isn't party political - the Tories started this, Labour have made it much worse and Reform will almost certainly mess up trying to sort it out. And I'm not saying ADHD isn't real.

But this is clearly nuts, terrible for an economy and totally unsustainable.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/adhd-pip-claims-no-work-requirement-100000-9qlcpsqws

OK, i stand corrected. However, I still believe that some people claiming PIP shouldn't be claiming. OF COURSE THERE ARE GENUINE CLAIMANTS as well.

Well it seems many do.

You think the government should “go after” disabled people. What would this look like?

I would rather the government invested in small UK based businesses.

It is well known that the newspapers (and radio) often make factual errors.

the guardian has a corrections column, there is a press regulator that people can complain to and newspapers regularly have to publish apologies.

https://www.ipso.co.uk/

your link and what you posted contain several factual errors.

would you like me to do a long post listing them all or shall we just accept it’s factually wrong?

Come on….
ADHD doesn’t give you ANY mobility issues. If 40% of people with ADHD get full mobility points, it’s because THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE going on other than ADHD.

People often have several diagnosis (eg ADHD and EDS or ADHD and ME or LC) thatvwill restrict their abilities Ona day to day basis.
However, for some reason, DWP only record one condition in theyr system. Despite the fact PIP isnt given because of a condition but because of daily struggles.

It is not possible otherwise.

We can all see that this unsustainable, and we can all tell that some are gaming the system.

But whenever anyone tries to discuss it, they're shouted down.

Eventually people will stop trying to discuss it and just elect a government that will tear it all down.

And at that point you'll be saying 'we should be discussing this'.

Does she get to the airport by herself off her own steam or does she have a partner / friends / parent reminding her what time they are leaving, that the taxi is booked etc. Would that person then have to do that every single day for her to get to work?

I don’t know the answer, I have a friend with a DS with ASD & ADHD that could never cope with work, My DS diagnosed struggled massively at school and in his first couple of jobs. We were genuinely worried for him and almost started a PIP claim, he then found a role that suits his disabilities perfectly and is absolutely thriving. Not everyone is that lucky or gets given that chance though.

@Itshotinherebutainttakingoffmyclothes I would rather the government invested in small UK based businesses

Well have a word with Rachel-from-accounts - she's shafting UK small businesses every which way but loose.

If you don't even know the basic facts about pip, how can you even begin to imagine you know anything about people claiming it who shouldn't be?

How much more difficult would you like it for people to claim it? If you think it's easy, you've obviously never had to try.

If the number of people getting benefits for ADHD has increased by 40 per cent in two years then there is clearly something dodgy going on.
This needs to be addressed ASAP for the good of the country’s finances and for the young people who are being suckered into believing they’re not capable of making a living. Teaching them that they need to be dependent on benefits to survive- when they don’t really need to be - is not a kindness in the long run.

It’s a poor effort when you don’t even get the basics right OP. If you want to start a benefit bash you really do need to get your facts straight first. I can’t take you seriously when you suggest PIP is the reason people do not have to look for work. 1/10

Well quite.

personally this disabled person wouldn't be too difficult to go after. I'm barely able to get out of my house. 😢🙇🏻‍♀️🙄

PIP isn't an out of work benefit though. You can work and claim PIP.

This. The people spouting the most about it, have no idea how hard it is to actually be awarded anything.

Yeah, I need to stop engaging with them!!

Are you not embarrassed to have started a thread that’s simply incorrect about the facts?

❤️

For one thing is this an actual increase in people who are just claiming for ADHD because I somehow suspect it’s not. I used to work in a clinical department for the nhs for ADHD and it is years to get an assessment and it is not diagnosed willy nilly

So by your logic, as you don't know anyone gaming the system, then every single claim is warranted and genuine? If you truly believe this, then, politely, you are extremely naive.

Disabled people can be "dependent on PIP" because it's estimated that being disabled costs up to £1000/ extra a month. I'm glad we're generally trying to help with that. I'm not commenting on the adhd/40k.

For some it will be one of several conditions and not the main one for their claim.

I have ADHD, and I've never not worked. It's just not in my mindset not to. It's how I was raised. I do need to work harder, do longer hours, double check EVERYTHING, but I manage, and even excel at my job. I have worked very hard all my life, never been on benefits, but could easily have gone that way using various reasons.

And it's not "good for you, you're obviously alright then". I'm not. I struggle massively a lot. It's just I don't show it.

Why do you think the numbers have soared in the last two years?

More and more people with ADHD finally getting the formal diagnosis they should have had years ago, and opting to apply for a benefit they are perfectly entitled to.

Do you think this is sustainable?

Of course it is. The UK is the 5th or 6th largest economy on the planet (depending upon how you measure this). If the UK decides this tiny proportion of it's GDP being spent to support people with ADHD is "unsustainable", then that will be because that's a decision taken on ideology, not on affordability.

Do you think it's good for young people to be given money to not work

They are not being "given money not to work" and framing it like this is nothing more than a disgusting, disgraceful attempt to delegitimise disability. PIP is a payment intended to cover the added cost of disability. Employment status is wholly and entirely irrelevant.

knowing that this is not sustainable

It's perfectly sustainable. Claims to the contrary are nothing but typical begrudging right-wing tripe intended to pander to ignorant people's inherent vindictiveness, the message being "someone is getting something you are not, therefore they are undeserving and your enemy"

at some point in the future that money will have to be taken away?

I wont "have to" be taken away. If it is, it will be because the UK has been stupid enough to elect another right-wing government hell-bent on austerity on steroids, despite the fact the previous 15 years of austerity has achieved nothing other than further stagnating the UK economy, and increasing the borrowing and debt it was supposed to sort out.

I should cut and paste this response for the nest time this thread appears, just has it has almost every other day for the past couple of years. The forum has a search function, yet it's never used by people starting "disability benefits" topics despite the fact the same thread gets done to death, over and over and over.

100,000 people claiming PIP for ADHD
When
Around 3.9 million people in England and Wales are entitled to Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

That’s approx 2.5% of claimants ( assuming your 100,000 was just for England and Wales )

Why the focus on one condition
we could look at many others

for example

There are approximately 148,600 PIP claimants with fibromyalgia listed as their main disabling condition. This makes it the fourth most common condition for which Personal Independence Payment is awarded. 1, 2]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes detailed statistics on these awards: 1]
Success Rate: Fibromyalgia claims have a success rate of 62%, which is notably higher than the overall average for all conditions.
Award Breakdown: A significant portion of claimants receive the highest tiers of support: 34% receive the enhanced daily living rate and 42% receive the enhanced mobility rate.

The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants with fibromyalgia has steadily increased in recent years. It now accounts for roughly 3.5% of all applications and is the fourth most common condition for PIP awards.