People living with mental health conditions may be entitled to financial support through the UK benefits system, amid growing concern over access to care and rising welfare costs.
Earlier this year, the Health Secretary said too many people were being “written off” following mental health diagnoses and warned that many were “not getting the support they need” to remain in work. His comments followed Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS, which found more than one million people were waiting for mental health services.
At the same time, pressure to curb welfare spending has intensified. Working-age health-related benefits cost the government £48bn in 2023–24, a figure expected to rise sharply in the coming years. Defending the latest Budget, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the current system was “trapping people, not just in poverty, but out of work”.
Benefits people can claim
Under existing rules, mental health conditions are treated in the same way as physical disabilities. People may be eligible for support if their condition affects their ability to work, leaves them on a low income, or creates care needs.
Universal Credit
This is a means-tested benefit for working-age people on a low income, including those unable to work because of illness.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
ESA can be claimed by people whose health condition makes full-time work difficult. It may be paid alongside Universal Credit.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
PIP is available to people who have additional care or mobility needs due to a disability, including mental health conditions, and is intended to help with extra living costs.
Attendance Allowance
This benefit is for people of pension age who require care or supervision because of a physical or mental disability.
Rising numbers of claimants
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), spending on working-age health-related benefits is projected to rise from £48bn in 2023–24 to £67bn by 2029–30.
In England and Wales, around four million working-age adults now claim disability or incapacity benefits, up from 2.8 million in 2019. In 2024, 44 per cent of claimants listed a mental or behavioural condition as their main reason for claiming.
A Department for Work and Pensions survey published this year found that 86 per cent of health-related benefit claimants reported having a mental health condition, even if it was not their primary diagnosis.
Henry Shelford, chief executive of ADHD UK, said mental health conditions were “under-diagnosed, not over-diagnosed”, warning the government risked undermining medical progress by focusing on cost-cutting rather than solutions.
Why claims are increasing
Experts say the rise in mental health-related benefit claims reflects broader trends in society, including worsening mental health since the Covid-19 pandemic. More people are self-reporting mental health problems, seeking NHS support, and disclosing conditions that may previously have gone unrecognised.
However, it remains unclear how much of the increase is due to a genuine rise in illness and how much is linked to changing attitudes and greater awareness.
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Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of the charity Mind, said the government’s review of mental health provision was a “huge opportunity” to understand the causes behind rising demand. She warned that long waiting times often allow people’s conditions to deteriorate and said support, when it arrives, is not always appropriate.
She added that tackling social and economic pressures would be key to reducing demand, calling for closer cooperation between policymakers, service providers and the voluntary sector.
