The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing calls to tighten eligibility criteria for benefits after it was revealed that over 100,000 people in Britain are now claiming personal independence payments (PIPs) due to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This figure surpasses the current number of full-time soldiers in the British Army.
As of April, 100,207 individuals were receiving PIPs for ADHD, marking a near doubling of claims over the past three years. Alongside this, 69,454 people were claiming benefits due to anxiety disorders. These numbers exceed the strength of the British Army, which stands at 82,000 personnel, as well as the combined 62,000 serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
Helen Whately MP, the Conservative Party Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, highlighted the concern, stating, “Britain faces the gravest threats to our national security in decades, yet Labour say welfare comes before defence. Our Armed Forces have shrunk while the number of people claiming benefits has ballooned. A strong country needs people to work and contribute, not stay home on benefits.”
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Ms Whately added that Conservative plans include reducing the welfare bill by ending PIP payments for low-level mental health issues and reinstating the two-child benefit cap to reallocate resources towards strengthening the Armed Forces.
Government data indicates that ADHD has been among the fastest-growing main disabling conditions cited by claimants, alongside anxiety and depression. A government spokesman responded by emphasising ongoing welfare reforms, including narrowing the gap between Universal Credit standard and health rates, restoring face-to-face assessments, and investing £3.5 billion in employment support schemes aimed at reducing long-term benefit claims.
The spokesman also noted efforts to reverse the decline in Armed Forces recruitment, reporting that more personnel are currently joining than leaving for the first time since 2020.
In parliamentary exchanges last week, Kemi Badenoch criticised Andy Burnham’s suggestion that national security should not come at the expense of social security. Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Mrs Badenoch said, “We have a problem in this country – we are addicted to welfare. We spend more on it than education and defence combined. That is obscene and we need to turn things round.”