One million more signed off work for life since Labour took power
The surge means more than 3.7 million people – or almost half of those currently claiming Britain's main unemployment benefit – are now exempt from finding a job.
By contrast, the number of people who have to look for a job as a condition of receiving their benefits fell from 1.65 million to 1.6 million in the year to July.
The increase in the number of people claiming Universal Credit (UC) with 'no work requirements' is up from 2.67 million in July 2024, when Sir Keir Starmer won a landslide victory, figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show.
It comes as the number of people claiming sickness and disability benefits continues to rise, and just weeks after Labour was forced to shelve key parts of its welfare reforms following a backbench rebellion.
The figures revealed a worrying trend among older and prime age workers who are potentially being parked on benefits indefinitely, with the over-50s seeing the biggest jump in being signed off without having to look for work.
The data showed the number of 55 to 59-year-olds claiming benefits with no work requirements climbed by 64pc to 426,000 in the year to July, while the number of claims from people aged between 45 and 49 jumped by 58pc to 404,000. By contrast, the number of 20 to 24-year-olds claiming UC with no work requirements rose 9pc to 246,000 over the same period.
Louise Murphy, at the Resolution Foundation, said rising unemployment had pushed more people onto benefits.
The number of people who are classed as economically inactive – neither in work nor looking for work – because of ill health has jumped from 2.1 million before the pandemic to 2.8 million today.
She added that ill-health among newly jobless older workers had left many parked on jobless benefits. 'We would expect some of that to feed through to more people receiving out-of-work benefits,' she said.
'How you are classed within UC depends not just on being out of work, but if you are expected to be searching for work or classed as having no search requirements due to either health or caring responsibilities.'
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has already warned that Britain's health and disability benefits bill is expected to rise to almost £100bn a year by the end of the decade.
Many people with no work requirements also receive enhanced sickness benefits worth up to an extra £5,000 a year that taxpayers face bankrolling indefinitely.
Claimants with no work requirements are not required to attend interviews or training because they have been assessed as being too ill for work, have recently had a baby, are caring for others or are terminally ill.
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