Surge in number of children on disability benefits since lockdown

Almost a million children are forecast to be on disability living allowance in 2028/29

The number of parents claiming disability benefits for children has surged by 200,000 since lockdown, new government figures show.

Some 714,000 children are forecast to be in receipt of disability living allowance, a benefit for disabled people that varies on the basis of need, this financial year.

This is up 45 percent from the 494,000 children who were the subject of claims in the financial year 2020/21, figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions show.

The rise in claims for children’s disability living allowance (DLA) has been fuelled by an increase in behavioural disorders, such as ADHD. These have more than doubled to 182,000 since before the pandemic,The Telegraph reported.

Claims for ADHD are up a fifth to 72,500, the newspaper said.

Tom Waters, an economist at think tank Institute of Fiscal Studies, said the rise in DLA claims for children could impact employment figures in the future. He said: “If you think about a classroom of 30 kids, that means maybe two of them might be on DLA.”

He warned that there was “very strong evidence from the US that people who started receiving disability benefits as children and into early adulthood [have] negative implications on your future employment.”

Britain’s ageing and sickly population will start adding a further £20bn a year to the welfare bill by 2029 , according to recent analysis (PA)

Government forecasts show that almost a million children - 948,000 - are expected to be on DLA by 2028/29.

Recent statistics show that there are 73,799 children under five on the benefit, nearly 300,000 aged five to 10 and over 300,000 aged 11 to 15.

The number of people claiming benefits for mental and behavioural disorders is up for adults as well as children since the pandemic. Experts have said rises in behavioural disorder claims could be down to an increased understanding of the conditions and more diagnosis.

The IFS think tank has also hypothesised that rising claims are down to worsening health among the population or falling real household incomes.

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring parents with children with disabilities are supported fairly.

“Awareness of neurodevelopmental conditions has increased over the past decade with a rise in the numbers of children seeking formal diagnoses reflected in those seeking support."