What's fueling the problem

chiarieds

An interesting read from the New Economics Foundation last year: https://neweconomics.org/2025/05/whats-behind-the-rise-in-disability-benefit-claims

Some of this is now a little out of date, tho interestingly they say, ''Rather than indicating that PIP is being awarded to people less in need or deserving of the support than in the past, our analysis suggests that the rise in claims is symptomatic of rising rates of disability combined with worsening hardship. A rise in disability makes more people eligible for PIP, while worsening hardship means that more people who were previously eligible for PIP, but did not apply for it, now feel the need to apply for additional financial support.''

I'm not sure Timm's review of PIP will give the answers as to who should be able to claim PIP due to any diagnosis; indeed they don't appear to be questioning this.

MW123

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1112590#Comment_1112590

Comments expressing “alarm” about people applying for PIP feed directly into the harmful stigma disabled people are forced to navigate daily.  Given the scale of long term illness, untreated conditions and collapsing access to support, the surprising thing for me is not how many people are claiming PIP, but how many sick and struggling people are not.

The facts are straightforward.  PIP fraud is consistently measured at well under 1%. Entitlement is not driven by a specific diagnosis, nor is it affected by how many people apply.  It is based entirely on functional impairment, meaning whether someone can manage daily living and mobility tasks safely, reliably, repeatedly and in a reasonable time.  Two people with the same condition can have vastly different levels of need, which is why a formal diagnosis is not required if the functional impact meets the legal descriptors.

A rise in claims does not indicate a system being played.  It reflects the reality that more people are severely struggling with their health and daily functioning.  The sharp increase in antidepressant prescriptions tells the same story, immense and growing pressure on people’s physical and mental health.

The real scandal is not that disabled people are claiming the support they are legally entitled to, it is the severe public health crisis that has left so many people unwell enough to need that support in the first place.  Rising rates of long term illness, record NHS waiting lists, unprecedented mental health strain, public services cut to the bone and the growing number of people unable to work due to chronic conditions all point to one undeniable truth, people are becoming sicker, not more fraudulent.

SheffieldMan1976

Yes, it's the annoyingly toxic comments on social media such as FB and X (fka Twitter) which are fuelling people's increasing anxiety, especially at the moment with the rise of far right Politics in the likes of Reform UK.