SIX IN 10 SICKNESS BENEFIT CLAIMANTS HAVE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
The majority of people signed off work on sickness benefits have mental health issues, with six in 10 claimants diagnosed with a condition, new figures show.
Around 1.2 million Britons awarded sickness benefits in recent years suffer from conditions like depression and anxiety.
According to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), 59pc of successful claimants signed off between Jan 2022 and Aug 2025 reported such conditions.
The Government does not record whether this is the main reason they are on sickness benefits but the trend is similar to the conditions behind surging disability benefit claims.
The benefit system has come under huge pressure since the pandemic, as sickness and disability benefit claims have jumped – driven by mental and behavioural conditions.
The second most common condition recorded among sickness benefit claimants is musculoskeletal issues, reported by 870,100 people.
The figures also show that the number of people receiving the health element of Universal Credit – an extra payment for ill health – has jumped by 2.6 million people since the start of 2020.
Most of the rise since the pandemic comes from new claimants, while a smaller driver is people being transferred from legacy benefits.
However, while cases have jumped by 933,000 in the past year, two thirds of that is people being moved on from claiming the outdated Employment and Support Allowance.
Disability benefit claims have also surged in recent years, fuelled by similar conditions.
It comes as new research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published on Friday suggests claims have rocketed in part because of the cost-of-living crisis.
The think tank said that when people’s incomes are squeezed – such as from other benefit cuts or when inflation surges, as it did in recent years – it gives people bigger incentives to apply for disability payments.
The research comes after a rise in so-called “sickfluencers” on social media platforms like TikTok and Reddit, giving detailed advice for how to apply for health-related benefits.
While some observers have claimed that austerity cuts to other benefits are behind the recent rise in health-related claims, the think tank said they could only be blamed for a fraction of the increase.
It found that austerity cuts across the welfare system, including to housing benefit, accounted for only 13pc of a £7bn increase in the disability benefit bill in the 2010s.
However, the researchers said this proves that more people will apply for health benefits when their incomes are hit.
As a result, the IFS said the cost-of-living crisis has at least partially fuelled the surge in disability benefit claims in recent years.
The IFS said the research also proved that benefit cuts will often yield lower savings than predicted, as they may move pressures to other parts of the system.
The think tank warned that it risks driving a long-term dependence on the state.
The report said: “In some cases, it could lead to people claiming disability benefits who would have been better supported by other bits of the system.
“This is particularly true as people often claim disability benefits for many years and policymakers might worry about how receipt of these benefits might change people’s behaviour.”
A DWP spokesman said: “The number of people on incapacity benefits has increased by 6pc over the past year.
“The vast majority of the increase in the UC Health caseload is because the decision was taken by the last government to move sick and disabled people from Employment and Support Allowance onto Universal Credit – a transition we inherited, along with a system where the incentives were wrong and health claims had been growing since 2019.
“We’re determined to fix the broken system we inherited and are removing the financial incentives in Universal Credit that discourage work, and we have redeployed 1,000 work coaches to help thousands of sick and disabled people who were previously left without contact for years.”
2025-12-12T07:05:14Z
