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

The inability to chop veg is used as an additional cost for other conditions when
frozen is already chopped and cheaper

You might want to check out all the reasons for other conditions before focussing on just one
If indeed you are …I don’t know

I’m focussing on adhd because that’s what the threads about. Not the inability to chop veg and needing ready chopped food. That’s very different to ordering a takeaway because you feel overwhelmed by cooking

Given your first paragraph I think you don’t understand how the condition presents itself or indeed how and why other conditions are assessed for PIP

It’s not very different at all
Its about the ability or not to feed yourself
Irrespective of a persons condition it is a very real issue if people can’t

Doesnt matter if you have no arms, arching hands or a brain that doesnt process the need. The outcome is the same…That’s what is assessed

Absolutely. It’s the most insane thing I have read here in a long time.

None of which are exclusive to ADHD. I really wish my disability only cost me £1600 per year

and yet those facts
not opinions !

come from research by The University of Cambridge and Mentalwell

Agree
but I’ve already been called out for mentioning other conditions,
despite being relevant.

As we know it’s not about the condition
anyway

But as the threads about ADHD I’ve posted the facts about ADHD

You could make the same claims for many other conditions. ADHD is nothing special in that regard.

Struggling to follow time and transport rules( the latter isn’t an adhd trait)wouldn’t be enough to get PIP let alone the highest rate. Labour has tightened up PIP something the Tories didn’t do in 14 years

I’m not aware anyone has said ADHD is special

Many conditions have cross over effects … no one has claimed otherwise
Doesn’t negate the need for research

The conservatives set up the white paper review

Benefits and support are absolutely essential to help people who need it live their lives. They are not intended to make people’s lives as comfortable and accommodating as possible.
The examples you listed are not essential but “nice to haves” which is why people call them ridiculous.

So,the reality is they did nothing in 14 years.

Those examples are not of my making

I copied over
Research from Cambridge and Mentalwell

Your opinion on ‘nice to haves’ isn’t taken up by PIP
thank goodness

I for one consider the need to feed yourself as essential and thankfully so does the Government and those with a full and professional understanding of that need
( although tbh it’s not rocket science )

The review took years and came out after Labour came in
Labour said they would review its findings
although ultimately the full recommendations were voted out in the end

Labours current changes have largely focused on delaying cuts for existing claimants and launching further consultations on how assessments are managed

As I said, don’t be surprised that people get tried to see that money is factored in for things that the tax payers often struggle with themselves or what they would like to have.

“The review took years” not good enough! They had 14 years.

That probably doesn’t mean what you think it does though. Someone might score 4 points relating to ADHD and score another 2 for something else and a further 2 on another condition. Therefore while ADHD is the ‘main’ condition claimed for, without the other, lesser scoring conditions, no award would be made.

Everyone should claim what they are entitled to
Everyone should use all tax breaks they can

Vote to change the system if you don’t like it.

Exactly! My dd has severe ADHD and gets PIP however she also has several other severe conditions and autism. Many people with ADHD also have autism too. Her ADHD alone would not be enough to qualify for PIP.

Very well explained

Oh good, more ragebait bullshit. ADHD'er here. I do work and do not claim benefits. However, people have it worse than me and I am capable of the critical thought needed to realise that they may struggle more than I do and need more support.

Get mad about the tax dodging billionaire corporations instead.

We cannot afford as a country to keep supporting this, that’s the bottom line. Taxpayers have had enough. People that take advantage of the system spoil it for those that really need it. It should at least be means tested.

I know a woman with EDS who has no problem holding down a job at all, no problem going out lots and partying. She now has £50k motability car at the age of 24. The taxpayer should not be funding this

The issue wasn’t an issue when the Conservatives first came in

Check out the timelines
Check your facts !!!!

There was a significant and sustained rise in mental health Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims accelerated during and immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic.

By 2024, the 'mental and behavioural disorders' category accounted for 44% of all disability benefit claims, up from 39% in 2015. 1, 2, 3]
Key milestones in this surge include:

September/October 2021: The Department for Work and Pensions recorded a noticeable, sudden jump in new PIP registrations, prompted in part by new online application options and updated guidance. 1, 2]

July 2021–July 2022: The number of new working-age PIP claimants doubled in a single year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies noted that mental health and behavioural conditions accounted for over half of this post-pandemic spike. 1, 2, 3]

Recent Records (2025): The Centre for Social Justice revealed that 633,000 people were claiming PIP for anxiety and mood disorders by mid-2025, with nearly 250 people awarded payments for these conditions every day.