More than 500,000 benefit claimants who are out of work because they’re sick have NEVER had a job_Nhy
More than half a million people claiming benefits for health reasons have never had a job, new analysis has found.
Census data from 2021 by the Office for National Statistics found that around 550,000 claimants who were out of work for ill health had never worked a day.
The analysis of the data involved people aged 18 to 64 who were unfit to work due to their health.
Two in five people in this group said they had never worked, while the majority had been unemployed for a long period of time.
Only three per cent of people said they had worked in the past year, although the census data was collected during the pandemic.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has vowed to try and get people off long term sickness benefits and into jobs.
Experts have said this move could be difficult for individuals who have never had a job.
Louise Murphy at the Resolution Foundation told The Telegraph: ‘All evidence suggests that when people are out of work for many years or have never been in employment, then that step is a really difficult one.
Liz Kendall has vowed to try and get people off long term sickness benefits and into jobs
New analysis has found around 550,000 claimants who were out of work for ill health had never worked a day
‘Are there employers willing to offer employment to people who have health conditions who have never been in employment before? That is a discussion that we need to be having.
‘The data reiterates that trends in economic inactivity due to ill health should be taken seriously for the impact that will have not just on the labour market and people’s employment but on claims for social security benefits.’
The analysis also showed that two in five people on sickness benefits had no qualifications.
The ONS found those claiming were more likely to be white, British-born native English speakers.
Nearly all of the people who were registered as unable to work due to sickness relied on benefits, with 1.49million of the 1.5million saying it was their main source of income.
The sickness and disability benefit bill has risen by 650,000 since the pandemic according to the ONS labour force survey, and is on course to hit £100billion before 2030.
Liz Kendall is expected to announce reforms to get more people off sickness payments next month.
In her first speech in the role last year, Ms Kendall declared: ‘We are the only G7 country whose employment rate still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. That is a dire inheritance from the Conservatives.’
The Work and Pensions Secretary is set to announce plans to try and get more people into jobs
The sickness and disability benefit bill has risen by 650,000 since the pandemic (file image)
She said Labour was determined to reverse the trend that has seen a growing number of people drop out of the workforce on sickness benefits since the pandemic.
She said the number of those on long-term sickness benefits had risen to 2.8million in recent years.
There are now more than 9.25 million economically inactive — those not in work and not looking for a job — working age adults in Britain, highlighting the scale of the nation’s sicknote culture.
Of this figure, more than three million are claiming incapacity benefits — up by 800,000 since the pandemic — and this is expected to hit 3.8 million by the end of this parliament.
In January, a House of Lords report found those eligible to claim health-related benefits could double their income by leaving the workforce.
In the report, peers noted the ‘stark financial disparity between the health-related component of UC (Universal Credit) and unemployment benefits and the differences in the conditions attached to them.’ They wrote: ‘Witnesses said that these create an incentive for those who are unemployed (and in receipt of income support) to seek this component of UC.
Eduin Latimer, Research Economist at the IFS, said that ‘if you move out of work, getting on to health-related benefits would almost double your income. You would also have some of your housing costs covered.’ He claimed recipients could also get an additional £9,000 a year in personal independent payments on top.
The authors also said that if 400,000 people who are out of work due to ill health were able to find employment, this could save around £10 billion through higher tax revenue and lower benefit spending.
Wes Streeting also suggested that obese unemployed Brits could be offered the weight-loss jab Ozempic
But they blasted the current system for assessing eligibility, claiming it needed to be more ‘rigorous’ and that it was currently ‘inadequate’.
The Prime Minister has said the Government’s ‘basic proposition’ is that virtually no one should be able to claim benefits without looking for work.
Official figures show two million people have been claiming sickness benefits for at least five years without any requirement to look for work.
Last year Wes Streeting also suggested that obese unemployed Brits could be offered the weight-loss jab Ozempic to help them get back to work.
Sir Keir Starmer backed the idea, insisting it could help ease demands on the NHS and boost the economy.
