The group also claims – based on its reading of official forecasts – that the equivalent of 1,000 new disability claims are being approved every working day.
“The danger now is that Britain turns into a welfare state with a bankrupt country attached,” declared Sir Iain, CSJ founder and former leader of the Conservative party.
The think tank tallied up the average universal credit (UC) for ill health payment with the average housing benefit and personal independence payment (PIP). The grand total they arrived at was around £25,200.
Meanwhile, 6.2 million people in employment take home less than £25,200 after tax – the level CSJ equates to a pre-tax salary of £30,100.
The figures were trumpeted by various right-wing papers, and seized on by Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice as evidence of “Labour’s war on work”
The reality:
The line between ‘benefits Britain’ and ‘alarm clock Britain’ is very porous indeed.
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A third of universal credit claimants are in employment, according to the latest government data. Those who are not employed are required to look for work as if it was a full-time job, unless they are exempt – and failure to do so incurs hefty sanctions.
CSJ treats PIP like a substitute wage, available to anyone who gets a “doctor to sign them off.” But PIP is not an unemployment benefit – it’s paid regardless of whether someone is in, or out, of work. Indeed, PIP helps many disabled people stay in work.
Tom Pollard, head of policy and campaigns at Mind, described the CSJ’s figures as “completely false comparison, designed to whip up resentment.”
The implication in the ‘1,000 sign ups per day’ figure – that people are casually deciding to fake mental health illnesses in order to get benefits – is also not true. Fraud in the disability benefits system is near zero. Government statistics show that just 0.4% of personal independence payment (PIP) was overpaid due to fraud last year.
It’s also not easy to get PIP. The success rate for PIP is around 40%. If people choose to contest that decision, they have to take it to appeal. The first stage is called mandatory reconsideration. The success rate for that is even lower, with nearly 90% of those rejected.
Additionally, the the £25,200 figure – which stacks UC, housing support, and full PIP awards – is a cherry picked aggregation. Many disabled claimants do not get PIP, many get lower-rate PIP, and housing support depends on location, rent, household size.
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CSJ do not say what proportion of claimants receive anything close to this amount.
The think tank is right about one thing, though: low-salaried jobs in this country don’t pay much.
Jobs boards this week advertised countless roles with low salaries, they find: for example a prison officer in Leicester on £28,187, a store cleaner in Birmingham paid £26,312 and a nursing assistant in Manchester paid £24,465.
It’s doubtful whether attacking disabled benefit claimants will bring these salaries up.
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