New figures show that the number of people in Britain receiving disability benefits for ADHD has, for the first time, overtaken the number of full-time soldiers in the British Army.
According to Department for Work and Pensions data, more than 100,000 people were claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as of April, a figure that has nearly doubled over the past three years.
By comparison, the Army had around 82,000 full-time troops at the same point, a number that has been falling steadily since late 2021 despite promises from successive governments to strengthen the military following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A similar pattern emerges with anxiety disorder. Roughly 69,500 people were claiming benefits for the condition, more than the combined strength of the Royal Navy and the RAF, which together numbered around 66,300 personnel.
A Widening Benefits Bill
The figures come against a backdrop of rapidly rising welfare spending. Since Labour took office in July 2024, the overall benefits bill has grown by close to £20 billion a year, with much of that increase attributed to claims linked to ADHD, autism, anxiety and stress. PIP claimants can receive up to £9,747 annually, money that can go toward costs such as taxis, mobility scooters and adapted vehicles.
Analysts cited in the original reporting point to several possible drivers of the surge, including a rise in social media personalities, sometimes dubbed “sickfluencers,” who share advice on navigating the benefits system, as well as a broader jump in claims since the end of the pandemic.
Total spending on health and disability benefits reached £76.9 billion in the 2024–25 financial year, outstripping the £60.2 billion defence budget. PIP payments alone cost £25.8 billion, compared with a combined £27.4 billion spent on equipment across the Army, Navy and RAF, and £15.8 billion on military personnel.
Political Fallout
The disclosures follow a clash in Parliament this week, where Prime Minister Andy Burnham rejected calls from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to trim the welfare budget in order to boost defence spending. Burnham has so far declined to commit to raising defence spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030, instead backing a slower NATO timeline of 3.5 percent by 2035, with further detail expected only in next year’s spending review.
This is not the first attempt to rein in the benefits bill. A previous effort by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to cut welfare spending by £5 billion a year collapsed in July 2025 after more than 100 of his own MPs rebelled against the plan.
A government-commissioned review by social security minister Sir Stephen Timms, published Thursday, proposed changes to how PIP is administered, including a more respectful tone from officials, expanded online services and a move away from one-off “snapshot” assessments of conditions that can fluctuate. Notably, the review stopped short of recommending any measures to reduce overall spending.
Opposition Criticism
The Conservative Party has said it would end disability benefits for anxiety and ADHD as part of a broader package of welfare reforms it argues could save tens of billions of pounds.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately criticised the government’s review, arguing it failed to shift support away from cash payments, address concerns about the Motability car scheme, or explain the sharp rise in mental health-related PIP claims, particularly among younger people. She characterised the Labour government’s approach as making claims easier to obtain rather than tightening the system.
Figures and reporting drawn from The Telegraph. Worth reading in full here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/10/adhd-benefits-claimants-outnumber-soldiers/
