Number of Benefits Claimants With No Requirement to Work at Nearly 3.9 Million

A sharp increase has been seen in the number of benefit claimants who don’t want to have to find a job, reaching nearly 3.9 million in 2023, social policy analysts have reported. The number of Britons without work requirements is on the rise, despite post-COVID-19 reintroductions of health assessments, according to Policy in Practice analytical firm. Out-of-work benefits include Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Pension Credit and other incapacity benefits. A report by Policy in Practice warned there were twice as many people on means-tested benefits who are not looking for work (3.8 million), as those with work requirements (1.6 million). “The rise in people on incapacity benefit is firstly because people are sicker, and unable to get the health support they need, secondly because the benefit system has become less generous and more punitive, and thirdly this makes going back into work if you are sick more of a risk for people,” Deven Ghelani, the author of the report, told The Epoch Times....