Disability benefit claims are rising fastest among the young in the Home Counties
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By SAM MERRIMAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT and MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR
Published: | Updated:
Disability benefit claims by the young have risen fastest in the Home Counties as concerns grow that the middle-class are 'gaming the system', according to a new report.
Despite being among the most affluent areas in Britain, four of the ten constituencies with the fastest growth in disability benefit claims among 16 to 19-year-olds were in the South-East.
Research by the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) think-tank found the region had also seen the sharpest growth in disability benefit claims across all ages since 2024.
The constituency of Farnham and Bordon, straddling Surrey and Hampshire, saw the largest rise in people in their 20s claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP), up 47.7 per cent since April 2024. PIP is a type of benefit meant to help cover the extra living costs incurred by having a disability.
The largest increase in PIP claims for those in their 20s since 2024 has been in the South-East and London, the research found.
Constituencies in the North-East, North-West and Wales had the most claimants as a percentage of their population, but generally saw lower rates of increase. The TPA said this raised questions about whether the surge in claims was due to deteriorating health in more affluent areas or if the system was 'driving younger people in affluent areas to claim state support'.
Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TPA, said: 'The explosion of PIP claims in leafy parts of the Home Counties begs the question of whether there are people with sharp elbows gaming the system.
'Ministers must urgently review eligibility for PIP, ensure support only goes to those truly in need by means-testing, and ease the burden on hard-working taxpayers.'
Wealthy Farnham (pictured) saw the largest rise in people in their 20s claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP), up 47.7 per cent since April 2024
The study comes after official figures last week showed 4.09million people in England and Wales were entitled to PIP as of July 31, after claims surged by almost 500,000 to a record high under Labour.
Almost 40 per cent of new disability benefit claims last year were given for psychiatric conditions, Department for Work and Pensions data showed.
The startling figures come as the Government today announces plans to establish a new Workplace Health System akin to the NHS to tackle the cost of sickness-related inactivity.
The plan is to bring together employers, the NHS, and local authorities to ensure people don't fall out of work unnecessarily.
Labour adopted the proposal of Sir Charlie Mayfield, former chairman of John Lewis, who is leading a Keep Britain Working review on the impact of long-term sickness.
His latest update found that health-related economic inactivity costs Britain £212billion a year – close to 7 per cent of GDP – in lost output, health-related benefits and NHS costs. There has also been a marked rise in health-related inactivity among young people, the report found.
Between 2015 and 2024 there was a rise of 1.2million 16 to 34-year-olds reporting work-limiting health problems, 530,000 related to mental health conditions.
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