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

They’re not all the same. My db has ADHD. He has a doctorate in a scientific discipline but academia destroyed his mental health, so now he’s a postman. Some sufferers thrive in their area of hyperfocus. Others can’t focus on anything.

Also, I am lucky that I have access to medication. This is already difficult and becoming more so. If people were able to receive the treatment they need, less would probably need benefits anyway.

I know a blind man that piloted a plane.

Doesn’t mean all blind people can.

I never said anything about PIP. I argued that extra considerations for “luxuries” such as take always etc are not a base need that would need to be funded by taxes.

Again you get the response "it's their money, how they choose to spend it is their right" and then if we explain how we know these people are just being feckless

I know non working families on benefits who enjoy splurging on takeaways. I know a ND YP who had pip because they had issues "socialising". Used back paid PIP to go on holiday and now just uses their PIP for driving lessons and gives the other half to his parents.

A take away isn’t a luxury when you can’t cook (whatever the reason - too exhausted, overwhelmed etc etc)

There are lots of things that most people considere a luxury that are just disability help.
Alexa is a good example too.

It sounds like you dint know much about how disabled people live and the accommodations they need

Oh the absolute jealousy that's causing hatred to boil over.

Thread timed to coincide with the announcement today that the Timms Review interim findings are due out. OP fulfilled her brief (remind people how much we need 'root and branch' reform of sickness and disability benefits) and appears to have abandoned the thread.

🤷🏻‍♂️

The DWP are not concerned with how any money from DLA/PIP is spent anyway. It is awarded based on care needs, not costs. Basing it on costs would cost more anyway with all the admin involved.
It is only people on MN that are demanding to know where every penny goes, and why. And even then it is often not justified in their eyes. Like when I said a friend uses her PIP to go to the hairdresser.... people saying they have no spare money to go to the hairdresser, and it should not be allowed etc. My friend can not wash her own hair, so goes to a hairdressers weekly.

Same with takeaways. For some, it will be the difference between having a meal or not eating at all.

Takeaways aren’t a luxury for disabled people who can’t prepare a meal. Is Meals on Wheels a luxury for elderly people who can’t cook?

Nobody gets PIP just because they have difficulties socialising. Stop reading the Daily Mail and look up the PIP criteria.

The Autistic Society is speaking on SM about how these stories appear and don’t stand up to scrutiny and are designed to cover up the facts. They’re going through the facts and talking about how ND people are shut out of work due to a lack of reasonable adjustments and how PIP helps people into work and how ND people want to work. Maybe look it up instead of ableist stories designed to mislead.

of people who are claiming benefits of which there are about 24 million

Of these 13.2 million get state pension (by far the largest group) and

only 10 million are of working age (so the rest are under 16 and get DLA or child benefit or similar)

so of 24 million only 10 million are of working age.

of these 10 million 8.3 million are on universal credit.

(this from government stats release from here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dwp-benefit-statistics-february-2026/dwp-benefit-statistics-february-2026

it’s quite a lot harder to do the calculations to work out how many of those ten million are in work, O expect I might need to go digging in the excel files, but this is quite interesting so maybe I will.

(thanks for suggesting the question)

Further to this, of the 8.3 million people of working age who are on UC half of them have no condition to look for work.

the total number of people who claim pip is 3.9 million see here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-january-2026/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-january-2026

so there are more UC claimants with no requirement to look for work (4.15 million) than total numbers of people claiming pip (3.9 million)

some of those people will have a child under 1 but not many.

i did go into the governments stats database to
look at these 4.15 million by age and as expected the largest numbers were thirties upwards.

Data in pic.

Remember that UC now covers several legacy benefits, of which people have migrated over from. People on ESA had no requirement to work, and now add to the UC figures.
Carers are also not required to work.

There is a difference between takeaways and meals for one supplied by companies especially for people who are unable to prepare food.

The first will usually be full of fat and salt while the other should be "balanced".

You are assuming that the takeaways people order are things are unhealthy. Pretty much everywhere has a delivery option now including things like cafe and pub meals, which can be balanced.

If someone is receiving a disability benefit because of mental health or learning disabilities or social disability I can easily imagine setting up a farm foods order is far more complex that ordering from door dash.
In an ideal world tailored support would be given at an individual level and all of this support would be individualized. But that's not the world we live in is it.

Ah yes I did see that.it slightly confused me because I’m on contributions based esa which I think doesn’t get migrated.

the majority of the migrations had no requirement for work (not unexpected given most were on essentially an illness benefit (esa).

i couldn’t find a way and wasn’t sure if there was a way so separate out of the 4.15 million who were carers, who were mothers of children under 1, and who had it due to own disability.

If they are on benefits can they afford a Smart Phone and all the Apps ?

Better to have a regular order from Farm Foods or some such company which can be set up by telephone.

Not everyone has the "latest iPhone" 🙄
My smartphone is a hand me down that cost nothing.

You can pick up a new smartphone on Amazon for just over £100

If they are on benefits, they likely need a smart phone. UC has an online journal you are expected to keep up to date with such as any appointments etc.

You don’t necessarily need it.

There are telephone claims where the claimant calls a phone line and gets everything done over the phone.

A smart phone is not required.

Phone calls still cost money