New analysis has revealed that the UK spends more than double on working-age benefits than it does on defence each year, highlighting the significant cost of welfare to taxpayers.
As Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces potential backlash over plans to end disability payments for around one million people, figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that government spending on working-age benefits totals £117.6 billion. This represents 4.5% of GDP and accounts for 9.2% of overall government expenditure—exceeding both the defence budget of £56.4 billion and the total education budget of £116 billion.
Former Royal Navy chief Admiral Lord West has raised concerns about the imbalance, warning that maintaining such spending levels is unsustainable if the nation wants to safeguard its security and avoid conflict. The issue is particularly pressing as global tensions continue to rise, with ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The government has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% by 2030, but critics argue that further welfare reforms are needed to address financial pressures. Former Work and Pensions Secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith has stressed that, in light of growing security threats and economic stagnation, further welfare reform is essential.
During his tenure under the coalition government, Sir Iain was responsible for major welfare system reforms, including the introduction of Universal Credit. However, the welfare budget has surged since the pandemic, driven largely by an increase in claims for long-term mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
The proportion of people reporting a disability has risen from 19% to 24% since the pandemic—a sharper increase than in countries such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands. According to government figures, 9.9 million people—around 14.5% of the population—are currently receiving some form of benefits. This includes nearly 940,000 individuals aged 16 to 24, making up 9.4% of all claimants.
Despite these figures, Starmer is under pressure from trade unions and left-wing Labour MPs to reconsider proposed welfare cuts outlined in the government’s green paper on reform. Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Steve Wright has urged Labour MPs to reject what he describes as an attack on disabled benefit recipients, warning that the proposed cuts could push the country back to 1980s levels of poverty.
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