IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Research finds government PIP changes will drive people out of work

27 June 2025

The government’s plan to restrict eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a false economy that will reduce the capacity of people with mental health problems to look for and stay in work.

That is the conclusion of research by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, which is urging MPs to vote against the plans next week in parliament. It comes after over 100 Labour MPs signed an amendment outlining why the measures should be rejected.

PIP is a benefit which people with long term health conditions or disabilities can claim to help cover the extra costs associated with their condition. To qualify for this benefit, people are assessed on how much assistance they need with each of those daily tasks. The more support someone needs, the more points they are awarded, and currently people who score 8 or more points across a range of tasks are eligible. 

But under the government’s planned reforms, people will only be eligible for the ‘daily living’ component if they score 4 or more points on a single task, like preparing food or managing a budget. This will make it much harder for people to qualify for the benefit, and it is expected to result in 800,000 people losing their PIP allowance according to the OBR.

Money and Mental Health’s analysis shows that these changes could make it harder for people with mental health problems to stay in work or go back to work — and will undermine the government’s stated aim for its wider welfare reforms. 

In an in-depth survey by the charity of 227 people with a mental health condition who currently receive PIP (1), around 1 in 5 respondents (22%) said they are in employment and 8% are seeking work. 

Of this group, nearly two thirds (63%) say they would need to reduce or give up work if they lost their PIP entitlement. 

A concern expressed by many was that losing PIP would worsen their health – often both physical and mental – driving them even further from work. Respondents said: 

• “PIP enables other health related benefits meaning I currently have sufficient to survive on. Without PIP other health benefits will be withdrawn leading to a massive reduction in income to beneath subsistence level. This will massively affect my mental health and I fully anticipate my mental health will deteriorate to the extent I’m likely to end up hospitalised again.”
• “Their failures and refusals to pay benefits have been a false economy because instead of supporting me properly to get well and return to work, they’ve ensured I’m ill for much, much longer and it’s much much harder to get back on my feet. Being on benefits is like trying to stay afloat and instead of being thrown a life ring you get thrown lead shoes that weigh you down and nearly drag you under.”

Other respondents flagged the practical barriers to work they would face if they lost PIP — including being unable to afford transport to go to their job, or pay for therapy they need to stay in employment. Research participants said: 

• “Access to Work only covers a % of my travel to work, I pay the rest out of PIP. To be able to do my job I need additional resources not covered by access to work which I pay out of PIP.”
• “PIP has allowed me to get a job where I work 12 hours a week. This has helped with getting me out of my house and helped with my depression as I’m unable to take medication, as the newer meds don’t work..PIP allows me to go to my job, get to appointments, get out to see family and friends.”
• “PIP pays for the private therapy [and other health treatment]…which keeps my mental health at a functioning level most of the time. Without these I doubt I could even manage the permitted work hours (14 hours per week) that I do.”

Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said

“Opposition to these deeply flawed changes to PIP eligibility is growing across parliament and we call on all MPs to vote against them next week. They simply won’t succeed in supporting people to find or stay in work, as they will deprive many people of a critical financial lifeline worth thousands of pounds that helps them stay well. 

“Our analysis suggests that these changes would actually result in many people with mental health problems cutting their working hours or leaving the workplace altogether. Rather than creating pathways to work as the government has billed it, these changes will lead to pathways out of work.”

ENDS

To set up an interview or for any other media enquiries, please contact Alex Goodfellow, External Affairs Officer, on 07935 216 804 or [email protected]