Half of Those on Disability Benefits Say They’ll Never Be Able Work, Survey Finds

Undated file photo of engineers working in a factory. David Davies/PA Wire

Nearly half (49 percent) of people receiving some form of disability benefits say they believe they will never be able to work again, according to a survey conducted for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The study, undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research for the DWP and published on Thursday, found that this group was older than average, with 62 percent over the age of 50. They also tended to have long-term physical conditions, like breathing difficulties and cancer, and have more than one condition.

Another 27 percent said they might be able to go to work in the future, but only if their health improved. This was the second-largest group, of which nearly half had a mental health illness as their main condition. This group was also slightly younger than average, with 70 percent being under the age of 50.

The survey forms part of the DWP’s interim report on work aspirations and support needs for those on disability benefits.

It comes as the number of young people (aged 16 to 34 years old) who are out of work due to long-term illness and have a mental condition hit 270,000, increasing by 60,000 (26 percent) on the year before.

For all working-aged individuals (16 to 64), this figure is 790,000, up 140,000 (22 percent) on the previous 12 months.

The UK is the only G7 nation where economic inactivity is higher now than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental Illness-Related Claims

The DWP said that the benefits bill is “spiralling,” and this was being largely driven by an increase in the number of people claiming incapacity benefits for mental health conditions.

The survey found that when it comes to people on benefits who have mental health conditions, 44 percent said they might be able to return to work if their health improved.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said that the report “shows that the broken benefits system is letting down people with mental health conditions who want to work.”

Kendall said there has been a “serious failure” in the system, which is “bad for people, bad for businesses, which miss out on considerable talent, and bad for the economy.”

The minister added that it was time to change how people with long-term health conditions, such as mental illnesses, are treated “so that they have a fair chance and choice to work.”

Report authors said the findings indicate a link between the increase in take up of disability benefits and challenges in the health care system.

It says two in five people (41 percent) were on a waiting list for treatment for their health conditions, with 50 percent saying they felt their ability to work was dependent on getting treatment.

Since Labour came to power in July, the government has pledged further funds for mental health services, including 8,500 more mental health staff, mental health support teams in every school, and more community mental health hubs.

More People Could Work

Kendall said that for young people in particular, not working can have a “scarring effect” which lasts a lifetime.

During a visit to a vocational education service in Northampton, Kendall addressed the fact that 49 percent of people on benefits believe they will never go back to work again, saying she thinks “more of those people could work.”

The minister told ITV News, “I don’t blame people for thinking that they can’t, because they’re stuck on a waiting list for treatment, they haven’t had the proper support that they might need from the job centre.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall outside Downing Street, London, England, on Jan. 28, 2025. Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

During the previous Conservative administration, the government sought to reform the benefits system and try to get more people on long-term sick back into employment.

Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had said he wanted to end the “sick note culture“ and for the UK to become ”more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life.”

‘Problem’ With COVID-19 Generation

When asked whether society was over-medicalising every day worries, Kendall admitted that there is “genuinely a problem with many young people, particularly the Covid generation.”

“But we can’t have a situation where doing a day’s work is in itself seen as stressful,” the minister said.

She went on to detail that during an official visit to a supermarket, she saw people with “genuine mental health problems,” but was also told that there were young employees struggling to turn up to work on time or on the day they needed to.

“They had to understand that that was the world of work, that was just the nature of life and that isn’t stress or pressure,” she said.

The government says it plans to publish a consultation document on reforms to the health and disability benefits system in the spring.