The role of changing health in rising health-related benefit claims

Publication type

Report

Series

IFS Report Series

Authors

Publication date

March 1, 2025

Summary:

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant rise in the number of people getting health-related benefits. In England and Wales, 4 million 16- to 64-year-olds (1 in 10) now claim either disability or incapacity benefits, up from 2.8 million in 2019 (1 in 13). One potential contributor to these trends is worsening health. In this report, we consider what we can learn from various sources about what has happened to working-age health since the pandemic, taking into account the difficulties surveys have had over the past few years.

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Link

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/role-changing-health-rising-health-related-benefit-claims


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