Even by the low standards of his government, Rishi Sunak’s speech about the benefits system on Friday was disappointing. Worsening public health across the UK is widely recognised to be among the most serious challenges facing the country. For 2.8 million working-age people to be “economically inactive”, as they are, is not a good or sustainable situation. But there is no such thing as a “sicknote culture”. Statutory sick pay in the UK is low by international standards, and UK workers take fewer sick days than those in France, Germany or the US. The use of this soundbite was deeply misleading.
What the UK has is a large number of unwell people. Since the pandemic, the number of those claiming disability benefit has increased by 850,000, half of whom are suffering either from anxiety or depression. Rising poverty – much of it caused by benefit cuts and caps – and waiting lists for healthcare are two reasons for this decline in the population’s wellbeing. But changes to the benefits system have also contributed. Specifically, the removal in 2017 of a top-up payment that used to be offered to claimants with a limited capability for work was an error. It took away an incentive for people who were partly incapacitated to work towards getting a job.
