How can DWP help disabled benefit claimants into work?

About the study

The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out the Government’s ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. A key part of this is helping people with health conditions into work.

We were commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to conduct research with health and disability benefit customers. That includes people receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and those on the Universal Credit (UC) Health Journey. In our report, we provide an overview of customers’ work aspirations, the barriers they face in accessing employment, and the support they feel they need most.

The report is based on 88 qualitative interviews, 9 focus groups and 3,401 survey interviews with health and disability benefit customers. Fieldwork was conducted from October to December 2024. These findings build on the interim report published in February 2025.

Findings

• For most people claiming health and disability benefits, it is their health that is the main barrier to work, as opposed to their motivation or skills. Nearly half (49%) of customers felt they would never be able to work, or return to work, because of their health, while 27% felt they might be able to work in future but only if their health improved.
• Despite this, there are opportunities to promote employment among health and disability customers. A small but significant number of customers (5%) felt they could work right now, if only the right job or support were available. Many of the 19% of customers who were already in work wanted to increase their hours.
• The findings indicate a link between rising take up of disability benefits and challenges in the healthcare system. Two in five customers (41%) were on a waiting list for treatment for their health condition(s), and half (50%) felt their ability to work was dependent on receiving treatment.
• The key policy challenges differ substantially between younger and older customers. Younger customers are looking for quality work that can be the start of a career, whereas for older customers the challenge is often to pivot from previous careers.
• The rise of homeworking has created opportunities. A quarter (25%) of customers feel they can’t work now but when asked if they could work from home say they could. However, customers felt there was a risk of social isolation and tended to see homeworking as a stepping stone to in-person work.
• Customers were sceptical about employers' willingness and ability to provide reasonable adjustments. Even those customers who were relatively more confident in their ability to find and apply for work were worried that employers would not employ them due their disability.
• A key challenge is the complex relationship many customers have with DWP. Of those customers not in work who didn’t rule out work permanently, 60% were worried that DWP would make them look for unsuitable work, and 50% were worried they would not get their benefits back if they tried working.
• Despite this, most customers (69%) were open to receiving contact from DWP about offers of support for employment, benefits or disability services. Customers wanted help to develop skills, including emotional, social and communication skills. They wanted help finding and applying for jobs, and help to stay in work, including engaging with employers to ensure their needs were met.
• But crucially, customers wanted help from DWP to be personal, with genuine attempts to understand their unique needs and circumstances. They wanted to feel supported rather than coerced, monitored or blamed. They wanted to see more joined-up services so that they didn’t need to explain their health conditions repeatedly to different staff and agencies.