BEHAVIOURAL AND MENTAL DISORDERS SEEN AS THE BIGGEST DRIVER OF UNIVERSAL CREDIT CLAIMS – Applications surged by over 100,000 in 3 months

Figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have shown that individuals with mental and behavioral disorders are now the bulk of so-called UC health claims.

The data showed that from January 2022 to February 2024 there were over 978 thousand claims linked to mental health conditions, which was up from over 874 thousand in the period ending November 2023.

The data showed that more working-age women are claiming Universal Credit for health reasons than men, though the reverse was the case for people above retirement age. DWP said 38% of claimants were aged over 50 and 10% were under 25.

Of the 2.6 million health claims processed by DWP from 2020 to 2024, 16% were rejected, while 19% were classified as “limited capability for work”, meaning they do not receive extra money but less of their benefits are clawed back by the state once they start working.

The Conservative party wants to scrap the so-called work capability assessment that determines UC benefit awards as part of a benefits overhaul aimed at saving £12bn a year by the end of the decade. Labour also vowed to support more people into work.

Economists have warned that Britain’s worklessness crisis is threatening growth, with the number of adults neither in a job nor looking for one due to ill health now at a record high of 2.83 million.

Overall inactivity rose to more than 9.4 million in the three months to April, the highest since 2011.