More than 100 Britons a day are being awarded disability benefits linked to anxiety and depression as mental health claims continue to soar.
Data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show an extra 3,100 Britons who cited “anxiety” or “depression” as their “main disabling condition” qualified for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in January.
While the increase is slower than the record claims seen post-lockdown, it lays bare the challenge facing policymakers as the welfare bill continues to grow.
The UK spent more than £4bn on disability benefits for stress, anxiety, depression and mood disorders in the last financial year, with spending on these benefits expected to keep increasing for the rest of the decade, according to official forecasts.
DWP data for January also showed that roughly 150 people a day were awarded PIP linked to autism and ADHD.
An increase in parents claiming separate child disability benefits for these conditions is expected to keep piling pressure on welfare spending in the coming years.
Ministers have hinted they will launch another attempt to reform welfare later this parliament.
Rachel Reeves vowed change on Tuesday. The Chancellor was forced into a humiliating about-turn after a previous attempt to restrict disability benefits was watered-down after a backbench rebellion.
“By the end of this parliament, we must have built a welfare system, materially different from the one that we inherited to support people to find work, and to thrive in work,” Ms Reeves said in a speech at the Bayes Business School in London.
It comes after Pat Mcfadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, warned this week that “radical” change to the welfare system was needed.
“The welfare state is only as strong as the political and public support for it,” he said.
Official data show a large share of sickness and disability benefit claims since lockdown have been driven by people who say they have mental health problems.
The share of people in receipt of Universal Credit health benefits who have no requirement to look for work has also doubled in just under six years, increasing from 39pc in summer 2019 to 78pc today.
The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government’s tax and spending watchdog, expects total spending on sickness and disability benefits to climb above £100bn by the end of the decade.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that these forecasts were predicated on new PIP applications falling further from their post-pandemic peak.
Sam Ray-Chaudhuri, at the IFS, said: “If that decline in PIP applications does not materialise then spending will rise even more.
He added: “The fiscal cost of the sharp rise in claimants seen since the pandemic is likely to be long-lasting, as recipients typically stay on these benefits for many years. Indeed, on the latest forecasts, real spending on working-age disability benefits is set to be £32bn in 2029–30 – £18bn more than before the pandemic.”
A DWP spokesman said: “The growth in the PIP caseload has slowed significantly under this government, falling from 400,000 in the 12 months to July 2024, to 270,000 in the 12 months to January 2026.
“We’re fixing the broken system we inherited by creating a welfare state that works for disabled people and taxpayers and have launched the Timms review, co-produced with disabled people and their representative organisations – to make sure PIP is fit and fair for the future.”
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