The government has announced a revised plan for health and disability benefits that affects only new claimants of the Personal Independence Payment (Pip). Payments to current universal credit recipients will not be frozen. Proposed welfare reforms could lead to an additional 150,000 people experiencing relative poverty. The number of working-age adults claiming disability benefits has increased to about four million, with 44% of claims attributed to mental health disorders. Pip assessments evaluate claimants on daily task performance, previously conducted mainly in-person before the pandemic.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall stated that changes to Personal Independence Payment (Pip) will only apply to new claimants, and existing recipients' payments will not be frozen.
Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that the 'mental and behavioural disorders' category constitutes a growing proportion of disability claims, reaching 44% in 2024.
In 2019, nearly three million working-age adults claimed disability or incapacity benefit, and this number surged to about four million by March 2025.
Claims for Pip, which assists working-age disabled citizens with daily living expenses, require an assessment scoring claimants on their ability to perform essential tasks.
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