Labour’s plans to reform the welfare system by getting more people into work is the best route to helping people out a poverty, a leading think tank says, warning that ”for too long now it’s been sickness that pays”.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), founded by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, did the groundwork for the last overhaul of welfare and the creation of the universal credit.
But it has raised concerns that work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall's reforms do not go far enough to deal with an over-medicated population. It comes as the CSJ has published a report showing that 84 per cent of GPs believe too much medicine is being handed out for mental health issues, particularly depression.
CSJ Policy Director Ed Davies said: “Work is the best route out of poverty, but for too long now it’s been sickness that pays. That’s bad for the individual and the nation.”
But he added: “In simply cutting benefits to balance the books, the Pathways to Work green paper is a missed opportunity in terms of growth and supporting individuals to reach their potential.
“There are some good ideas, for example the ‘right to try work’ is a CSJ initiative; as is the importance of employment support schemes such as WorkWell; and the expectation for people with some health conditions to look for work rather than being forgotten.”
However, with the government not revealing any figures over its measures in terms of people effected or money saved, the CSJ questioned if their sums will add up.
Mr Davies said: “This barely adds up to a coherent vision of benefits in modern-day Britain struggling with the over-medicalisation of the everyday ups and downs of life, the presumption of so-called fit notes to sign people off sick, and the failure to engage employers and schools in halting the number of young people moving straight from education to their sick beds.
“We have recommended a 16-step action plan to reverse economic inactivity, get Britain working, and generate as much as £13 billion for the public purse. The government’s plan announced today, with its aspiration to find a paltry £5 billion, lacks vision and ambition.”
Meanwhile, the CSJ has also produced analysis arguing that benefits are being kept high because the “ups and downs of normal life are over-medicalised”.
Its report noted that 84 per cent of GPs believe everyday challenges of life should not be seen as mental health problems.
Added to that, the NHS has no agreed definition of mental illness while nearly a fifth of adults in England are now on antidepressants.
Children from broken homes are more than 1.5 times more likely to have mental ill health and plummeting family stability underpins sharp decline in mental health among children.
These findings for a major new report to be published by the CSJ, Change the Prescription, have prompted it to warn that the UK is far too inclined to pin a mental health label on patients feeling miserable or lonely. It also cautions that antidepressants are often not the most appropriate or effective response.
The report also reveals that for the attention now paid to mental disorders, only three of the country’s 49 health trusts have a definition of mental health at all, with psychiatrists admitting that diagnoses are often subjective.
The report says: “In a desire to support and enable individuals to have positive mental health, there is a danger that the pendulum has swung too far, and that the boundaries between distress and disorder have become blurred.
“This is not compassionate. It risks those who are unwell missing out on the treatment they deserve, and it risks burdening others with unhelpful labels that can hold them back without addressing the root cause of their very real needs.”
Sophia Worringer, deputy policy director at the CSJ, said: “Misunderstood mental ill-health is the leaky bucket draining the nation. It is a leading driver of economic inactivity and has contributed to the surge in school absence, the strain on NHS services and a drag on productivity.”
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