Teens on disability benefit pocket £100 more a week than part-time workers

TEENAGERS claiming sickness benefits for conditions such as anxiety reportedly receive £100 a week more than part-time workers on a minimum wage. Personal independence payment (PIP) is a benefit that is intended to help with everyday tasks and extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability. According to official figures published earlier this year, the number of people in England and Wales claiming the main disability benefit passed four million for the first time – roughly doubling since 2019. According to analysis from The Times, more than 87,000 16 and 17-year-olds are claiming PIP. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! More than two thirds of those who receive the maximum amount of £194 a week are claiming for mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions such as anxiety, depression, autism and ADHD. The Times reported a 16-year-old on the under-18 minimum wage, working the legal maximum of 12 hours a week during term time, takes home about £94. It said the same teenager, signed off with anxiety, can receive more than double the hourly equivalent without having to work. The analysis comes after a review of disability benefits found the system is “no longer fit for purpose”, with promises of “bold” reform of the system. The review was launched last year after ministers were forced to climb down on plans to reform disability benefits, including for those with mental health conditions, in the face of backbench Labour opposition. Instead of immediate reform, the review led by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms was put in place to gather views on PIP and how it works, with the Government promising no changes to the benefit until it is completed. Most read in Money The final report, which will include recommendations for change, is due in the autumn and the Government has insisted the review will ensure PIP is “fit and fair for the future”. The review team said their recommendations will be “bold in nature and bold in recognition of the wider environment in which disabled people in the UK are living”. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he would not be “squeamish” about reducing the welfare bill, but insisted it would not be through “crude cuts”. He told The Times: “It is not the traditional Westminster way of just crude cuts, short-term cuts that then create a backlash and create more political turbulence. “It is actually going to do things that will reduce the benefits bill, moving towards a more preventative state that makes the right investments to support people into work.” A Government spokesperson said: “Personal independence payment is an in and out of work benefit, to help with the extra costs of disability and health conditions. “The Timms Review Interim Report is clear that PIP, as designed in 2013, is no longer fit for purpose, and the final recommendations due this autumn will lay the foundation for reform. “We are investing a record £16.1billion in NHS mental health services this year to ensure every person gets the mental health support they need as early as possible and have met our target to hire 8500 more mental health workers, three years early.” The news comes as benefits cheats are receiving £4.3million in taxpayer-funded handouts a week. Sun on Sunday analysis has revealed that fraudsters are pretending they still live in Britain to claim the cash. Meanwhile, the bill for other conditions, such as bad backs, has doubled to £1.9billion a year. Comment now