The sickness benefits bill will swallow a quarter of income tax intake by this decade’s end, a report has warned.
The cost of disability and incapacity handouts has risen by 40 per cent in real terms since 2013 and is forecast to reach £100billion by 2029/30.
In such a scenario, £1 in every £4 of income tax will be spent on health and disability benefits, according to analysis by the Policy Exchange think-tank.
The total spent on the benefits would be equal to almost £1,500 per person annually across the UK, it added.
Policy Exchange called for major reforms to the benefits system, such as ensuring every claim for these handouts is ‘backed by medical evidence’.
It also said young adults claiming disability benefits should be made to look for work or training.
And the report suggests the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) be made ‘conditional’ for those aged 18-30 to combat spiralling joblessness.
PIP is given to those with long-term disabilities regardless of their employment status or financial situation.
Labour grandee Lord Blunkett (pictured), a former work and pensions secretary, said the report is timely given that the Government’s own welfare reform paper is imminent
The report comes ahead of the publication of the Government’s plans to slash welfare spending (File image)
The sickness and disability benefits bill for working-age people has risen by £20billion since the pandemic, and ministers are looking to make £5billion worth of savings.
The report comes ahead of the publication of the Government’s plans to slash welfare spending.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told Cabinet colleagues this week the current system is ‘bad for people’s wellbeing’.
Labour grandee Lord Blunkett, a former work and pensions secretary, said: ‘This is an extremely timely report given that the Government’s own welfare reform paper is imminent.
What is absolutely certain is that for the sake of individuals, our economy and the affordability of the system, radical and positive change is necessary.’
