King's College London

New research from the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London has found that UK benefits claimants report feelings of moderate to severe depression at twice the rate of the general public, with more than two in five reporting thoughts they would be better off dead or of hurting themselves over the last fortnight.

The research, conducted as part of the ESRC Welfare at a (Social) Distance project, is based on publicly accessible data but which has not yet been peer-reviewed. It challenges the narrative that most claimants are not mentally distressed, and that high levels of mental health-related claims are due to gaming the system.

In order to establish the prevalence of mental ill-health among British benefits claimants and explore the extent to which sanctions are being used on this group, 3,801 working-age claimants of Universal Credit, ESA and JSA responded to a purpose-designed YouGov poll in May and June 2022. These results were compared to previous surveys of the general public as well as a new short survey of 3,499 people. Participants were asked to both self-report mental ill-health, and also to report mental health symptoms, which were scored using clinically validated screening questionnaires.

The study found that 72 per cent of people receiving benefits reported currently being affected by a mental health condition, with 61 per cent showing moderate to severe depression/anxiety on the clinically-validated screening tools – twice the levels reported by the general public. 43 per cent reported “thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way” in the previous fortnight.

The research showed that, for many claimants, mental illness was a significant barrier to getting back into work. 39 per cent of people receiving benefits with mental ill-health said they were unable to take on work with fixed hours, and a quarter reported problems travelling to work.

 

There are reports that the Government is considering extending conditionality and sanctions to more people receiving benefits – that is, for benefits to be stopped or reduced if the claimant does not meet certain conditions (i.e. if they do not take attend a meeting with a work coach). The researchers argue this runs counter to extensive evidence suggesting that conditionality does not help people with mental health problems to gain employment, and that it can have a negative impact on their health.

The researchers in this study found that claimants without a mental health disability were at least twice as likely to have experience of conditionality. However, of those with a mental health disability who were subject to sanctions, a quarter said that their Work Coach had not taken account of disclosed barriers to work.

Professor Geiger concludes, “With a Green Paper on benefits due to be presented to Government by the end of March, it is vital that any change to the benefits system in Britain reflects an accurate picture of who is claiming support. Mental distress is not a rare ‘vulnerability’ among people receiving benefits – it is a common part of their experience, and the benefits system must be designed to work for everyone experiencing significant mental ill-health symptoms.”

The Welfare at a (Social) Distance project includes a team from the University of Salford, King’s College London, the University of Kent, the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE), Australian Catholic University and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

 

Mental ill-health among welfare claimants in the UK: The extent, nature, and impact on claimant experiences (Ben Baumberg Geiger, Lisa Scullion, Daniel Edmiston, Robert De Vries, Kate Summers, Jo Ingold, and David Young) is available to read in pre-print here.

For more information, please contact Patrick O'Brien (Media Manager)