IFS: Various indicators point to deterioration in population mental health – likely contributing to rising disability benefit caseloads
|
A new IFS report released today, funded by the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation and the Health Foundation, finds a range of evidence
that mental health has worsened since the pandemic. This is
consistent with rising disability benefit claims for mental health.
Since the pandemic, the number of 16- to 64-year-olds in England
and Wales on disability benefits has risen by 0.9 million to 2.9
million, with 7.5% of 16- to 64-year-olds now claiming. Around 0.5
million – over half – of...Request free
trial
A new IFS report released today, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Health Foundation, finds a range of evidence that mental health has worsened since the pandemic. This is consistent with rising disability benefit claims for mental health. Since the pandemic, the number of 16- to 64-year-olds in England and Wales on disability benefits has risen by 0.9 million to 2.9 million, with 7.5% of 16- to 64-year-olds now claiming. Around 0.5 million – over half – of this rise has come from claimants whose main condition is a mental health problem. The report finds that:
Eduin Latimer, a Research Economist at IFS and an author of the report, said: ‘The rise in the number of people on disability benefits is a key motivation for the government's upcoming Green Paper. A range of evidence suggests that mental health across the population has worsened, and – consistent with this – more than half of the rise in disability benefit caseload comes from claims for mental health and behavioural conditions. As well as obviously bad news on their own terms, mental health problems may also be contributing to the rising benefits bill.' Iain Porter, Senior Policy Adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: ‘This is clear evidence of a deterioration in mental health in the population, which goes some way to explaining rising health-related benefit claims. Greater openness about mental health has helped many people to live with conditions which were once hidden, but the rise in deaths of despair also shows that reducing stigma does not eliminate the most serious consequences of rising mental ill health. This trend is real and growing, and we need our government to look carefully at the health of the nation, rather than relying on benefit cuts to fix the problem. ‘We await the government's forthcoming Green Paper to see whether it will truly address the underlying causes of increasing poor health, whether it will help more people stay in work when they are struggling with their health, and whether it will make the move into work safer for people who feel at risk of losing support.' Jo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health Foundation, said: ‘We are right to be concerned over the worsening mental health of the working-age population, which is increasingly reflected in more people seeking disability benefits. Improving health requires strengthening the building blocks of health, like adequate income and quality work. Our Commission for Healthier Working Livesemphasises the need for a radical policy shift to prevent health issues and ensure timely support when they arise. The upcoming Green Paper presents an opportunity for the government, employers and businesses to adopt a new approach that supports everyone.'
ENDS Notes to Editor The role of changing health in rising health-related benefit claims is an IFS report by Eduin Latimer, Sam Ray-Chaudhuri, Tom Waters. The authors gratefully acknowledge funding for this work from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Health Foundation, and the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy.
|