Kate Wells, Research Officer, Money and Mental Health; Dan Weir, Research and Policy Manager, Money and Mental Health; Conor D’Arcy, Deputy Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health
Lead shoes instead of a life ring
How people with mental health problems will be affected by proposed changes to PIP eligibility.
5 June 2025
The government plans to reform Personal Independence Payment (PIP) by limiting eligibility for the ‘daily living’ component to people who 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.
In this paper, we assess the potential impact of the changes for people with mental health problems. Drawing on an in-depth survey of 227 people with a mental health condition who currently receive PIP, our analysis suggests these reforms would have a devastating financial and psychological impact for many people with mental health problems.
What are our findings?
- A significant number of people with mental health problems expect to lose PIP under these reforms, facing a terrifying income shock as a result.
- Losing PIP would force many people with mental health problems to cut or stop spending on critical support they need to support their wellbeing.
- It would also have a huge impact on people’s ability to keep up with day-to-day bills.
- People also told us these reforms could force them out of work, or force them to reduce their hours.
What are we calling for?
We strongly urge the government to ditch these plans, which will cause misery and hardship for some of the most vulnerable people in society.