An estimated a million folks will probably be affected by modifications to eligibility, together with stricter psychological well being evaluation necessities, and the charges at which varied advantages are paid to new and present claimants.
Many individuals with psychological well being problems and individuals who battle to scrub, gown and eat, primarily based on sure standards, could not obtain advantages because of the reforms, that are projected to scale back advantages in order that solely essentially the most severely disabled folks qualify.
When requested in regards to the proposed welfare cuts, Ms Reeves mentioned: “We are going to set out our plans for welfare reform however it’s completely clear that the present system isn’t working for anybody … and it isn’t working for the taxpayer when the invoice for welfare goes up by billions of kilos within the subsequent few years.”
Over the subsequent 4 years, the well being and incapacity funds, which is presently £65 billion yearly, is predicted to rise to £100 billion.
However how many individuals are on advantages for the time being and the way does this evaluate with 2005? Here’s what we all know.
How many individuals are on advantages now?
In accordance with the Authorities’s most up-to-date statistics, 24 million folks claimed a mix of DWP advantages in August 2024. Of those claimants, 13 million have been receiving their state pension. There have been 9.9 million claimants who have been of working age, whereas 75,000 have been underneath 16 (and receiving incapacity residing allowance as a toddler).
Information from January 2024 exhibits there have been 6.4 million folks on common credit score and 163,000 households have been receiving the common credit score childcare ingredient in November 2023. There have been 3.9 million folks on some form of health-related profit over 2023-24.
Evaluation by the Joseph Rowntree Basis charity from 2005 indicated that three-quarters of all working-age individuals who obtained out-of-work advantages for 2 years or extra in December that 12 months have been ailing or disabled. This amounted to 2.1 million folks.
One-third of the claimants have been aged 55 to retirement, one-third have been aged 45 to 54 and one-third have been underneath 45.
The variety of folks claiming advantages has due to this fact gone up sharply since 2005.
Which advantages have had the largest rise in claimants?
The variety of folks receiving jobseeker’s allowance has elevated
Philip Toscano/PA
Common credit score was 6.4 million on January 2024, up considerably since March 2022 when it was 5.5 million.
In January 2024, ladies accounted for 58 per cent of these receiving UC, up from 57 per cent in January 2023. The ratio of girls decreased after the pandemic however has began rising and it’s now at its highest stage because the implementation of UC started in 2013.
From January 2023 to January 2024, the median age of these receiving UC stayed at 38.
Each these with out jobs and people with low incomes are eligible for UC. As of December 2023, 2.4 million UC recipients have been employed, accounting for 38 per cent of the overall variety of recipients. This quantity has been steady since January 2023.
The variety of folks receiving jobseeker’s allowance elevated by 6.7 per cent to 94,000 claimants between August 2023 and 2024, the low quantity being as a consequence of most unemployed folks having been migrated to UC. The variety of folks getting the state pension elevated by 1.6 per cent to 13 million in the identical interval.
The variety of working-age folks getting health-related advantages in England and Wales went from 2.8 million folks (2019-20) to three.9 million folks (2023-24), a rise of 38 per cent. There has additionally been a rise in claims from youthful people and claims for psychological well being issues.
The variety of new incapacity profit awards made to underneath 40s has grown from 4,500 a month in 2019–20 to 11,500 in 2023–24.
Issues with psychological well being are the first cause for 37 per cent of recent claims, up from 28 per cent earlier than the pandemic, in response to the Institute for Fiscal Research.
Nonetheless, between 2023 and 2024, the variety of folks receiving advantages decreased. Claims for employment and assist allowance fell by 5.7 per cent to 1.5 million claimants and earnings assist claims dropped by 71.1 per cent to 40,000 claimants.
Housing profit claims dropped by 14.8 per cent to 2 million between November 2023 and November 2024.
Why has there been a rise?
Various causes, such because the pandemic, NHS ready instances and the introduction of UC, have contributed to the surge in folks claiming advantages, notably these referring to well being, which has resulted in an increase in claims for each incapacity and incapacity advantages.
Vital financial upheaval introduced on by the Covid-19 epidemic and its aftermath resulted in job losses and better unemployment, which in flip fed an increase in functions for advantages corresponding to UC.
In accordance with Incapacity Rights UK, the rise in incapacity advantages is considered a results of the UK inhabitants ageing and working-age people being in worse well being.
Folks may be in search of incapacity advantages as a result of longer NHS ready instances for remedies and operations are delaying them being nicely sufficient to work.
The Institute for Fiscal Research predicted the variety of working-age folks claiming health-related advantages may rise by 30 per cent by the top of the last decade.
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