Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Rising ill-health and financial insecurity are significant factors driving increased benefit claims.
Conclusion
Trends in health-related benefit spending cannot be properly understood without appreciating the impact of rising ill-health and financial insecurity. The disparity between the standard and higher rates, for example, would not be nearly so great an incentive to claim were those affected not struggling financially. If a disabled person is struggling financially, they are obviously far more likely to claim benefits for which they are eligible but which they might previously not have thought about claiming. The combination of rising ill-health and financial insecurity cannot account for all the increase in caseloads but is certainly a significant contributory factor. (Conclusion, Paragraph 45) 64
Government response summary AI-generated
The government stated its intention, outlined in the Green Paper, to introduce a 'Pathways to Work Guarantee' providing personalised work, health, and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out-of-work benefits.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The structure of the UK’s Health and Disability benefit system needs reform to improve employment outcomes and tackle rising expenditure. All major economies have seen rising prevalence in long-term health conditions and disability, but the UK is an international outlier in terms of its impact on benefits. UK spending on disability benefits has increased by over 30% since the pandemic, whilst over the same period, across 11 similar countries, all but one have seen stable or falling spends on their nearest equivalent benefits2.
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