An article in the FT said this: “The rising cost of support for people with long-term health conditions — set to rise to a staggering £100bn by 2029-30 in cash terms on current projections — has become a huge source of pressure on the public finances for a government fighting to meet its fiscal rules”.
The rules on disability benefits are so complex I won’t even attempt to explain them. But clearly the cost of those benefits has been rising, particularly from mental health claims. There is a strong incentive to claim benefits on health grounds rather than simply being unemployed as the rewards are higher and can last a lot longer. And mental illness is easy to fake.
The Government would like to get everyone who can work (even if only in lower paid jobs with minimal skills required) back to work. But there is currently a strong incentive to create imaginary ills. Even the BBC reported that “Some people on benefits are ‘taking the mickey’, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has said, as the government seeks ways to curb welfare spending.
Incidentally I am one of the beneficiaries of the generous Government support for disabled people. I actually get an “Attendance Allowance” worth about £290 per month from the state because I have a minor physical disability. But I am aged 79 now so I hope the Government does not expect me to go back to work, from which I retired over 25 years ago. There is no means testing of Attendance Allowances which might be worth reviewing but I doubt such a review would substantially cut the cost.
In essence this is a difficult problem to solve. If there is something for nothing then folks will exploit it. There is a feeling that recent immigrants are often claiming benefits with no expectations of actually working or repaying the state for its generosity.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson )
You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.