{"id":103078,"date":"2025-01-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=103078"},"modified":"2025-01-29T09:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T09:02:30","slug":"uk-weighs-mental-health-benefit-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/uk-weighs-mental-health-benefit-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Government Weighs Mental Health Benefit Cuts Amid Rising Welfare Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>According to plans being reviewed by the UK government, the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) may no longer provide financial assistance for mental health disorders. According to a report by the <strong>Centre for Social Justice<\/strong> (CSJ), the welfare cost is reaching unaffordable heights and economic inactivity is being caused by an increase in mental illness claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, 1.4 million PIP claims, or <strong>38% <\/strong>of all claims, are for mental health issues, mostly sadness and anxiety. The existing system&#8217;s detractors point to a<strong> 209% <\/strong>rise in claims pertaining to mental health during a four-year period, with expenses increasing from <strong>\u00a3221 <\/strong>million in 2019\u201320 to <strong>\u00a3683<\/strong> million in 2023\u20132024. As authorities contemplate reorienting <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/full-potential-of-pip-benefits-support\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102739\">support <\/a>from cash payments to alternate measures, the discussion becomes more heated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rising Costs and the Push for Reform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spending on incapacity and disability benefits has increased by more than <strong>40%<\/strong> since 2013, now reaching <strong>\u00a364.7 billion<\/strong>\u2014a sum <strong>20%<\/strong> higher than the UK\u2019s defence budget and accounting for<strong> 22%<\/strong> of total health spending. Projections indicate that this figure could rise to <strong>\u00a3100.7 <\/strong>billion by 2029\u201330, pushing the total welfare bill above <strong>\u00a3370 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, the <a href=\"https:\/\/committees.parliament.uk\/committee\/175\/economic-affairs-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee<\/a> has called for an accelerated overhaul of the system, urging Work and Pensions Secretary<strong> Liz Kendall <\/strong>to respond to reform recommendations by<strong> March 20<\/strong>. Among the most controversial proposals is the CSJ\u2019s suggestion that PIP payments for mental health conditions be replaced with targeted, non-financial support. CSJ polling indicates that nearly half of the public (<strong>48%<\/strong>) supports such a move, compared to just <strong>18%<\/strong> who believe claimants should continue receiving cash benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed changes come amid broader concerns about economic inactivity. Since 2019, there has been a <strong>29%<\/strong> increase in the number of <strong>16\u201324-year-olds <\/strong>who are exempt from seeking employment because of chronic <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/dwp-integrate-disabled-sick-workforce\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"102689\">illness<\/a>, and a<strong> 42%<\/strong> increase in those aged <strong>25\u201334.<\/strong> The majority of new claims are related to mental illness, with an estimated<strong> 20,000 <\/strong>more cases\u2014a <strong>24%<\/strong> increase\u2014occurring in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Concerns Over Over-Medicalisation of Mental Health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond welfare reform, the CSJ report, Change the Prescription, raises concerns about the growing tendency to <strong>medicalise normal emotional distress<\/strong>. It cautions that exposure to social media is causing mental health problems to rise, especially in young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to reports, frequent social media users are <strong>1.7 times<\/strong> more likely to suffer from a mental illness, and hospital admissions for <strong>self-harm <\/strong>among teenage females have <strong>quadrupled <\/strong>in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>CSJ <\/strong>argues that a lack of clear <strong>diagnostic criteria<\/strong> is exacerbating the issue. Psychiatrists acknowledge that many diagnoses are subjective, and research reveals that just <strong>three <\/strong>of the<strong> 49 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/dwp-offering-434-for-health-condition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"101521\">health <\/a>trusts<\/strong> in the UK have a clear definition of mental health. A<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> national standard for mental health diagnosis, better prescription oversight, and a greater emphasis on social prescribing\u2014such as lifestyle changes and community engagement\u2014as alternatives to medicine are also recommended in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UK government is reviewing plans to cut PIP payments for mental health conditions as rising claims drive up welfare costs. A new report calls for an overhaul, arguing that financial support should be replaced with targeted interventions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":103082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103078"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103092,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103078\/revisions\/103092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}