The Timms review shows welfare is broken. Blaming the sick will not fix it
Welfare reform must begin with the truth that PIP is not an out-of-work benefit, and the people who rely on it are not the enemy, writes Kim Samuel
The debate about rising economic inactivity has become trapped in a false story: that the welfare system is too generous, too soft, too easily gamed.
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It is a politically convenient argument because it gives the country someone to blame.
Yet Stephen Timms’s review into Personal Independence Payment (PIP), published today, reveals that the application process is so onerous, and repeated eligibility assessments so hostile, that many found the experience distressing and “soul destroying” - leading some to give up work and withdraw from their social lives.
That hardly sounds like a free ride or the easy option, does it?
The review should be taken seriously. It points to a system that is failing disabled people, taxpayers and public confidence. Reform is plainly needed. But reform must begin with the truth that PIP is not an out-of-work benefit, and the people who rely on it are not the enemy. The danger now is that some will seize on the review as another excuse to blame claimants themselves, rather than asking why the system has become so hostile, so mistrusted and so poorly connected to work, health and ordinary life.
But sick people are not the disease.
Britain has a serious problem with ill health, worklessness and rising welfare costs. But the idea that we have built an unusually generous safety net does not survive contact with the evidence. A single UK homeowner who loses work keeps only around 12 per cent of their previous disposable income. Across the OECD, the average is 55 per cent.
So the harder question is not whether Britain has become too kind. It is why so many people are becoming too unwell, unsupported or disconnected to work in the first place.
People need to feel a sense of belonging, at work and in their community, to stay in work.
Work is not only a payslip, important though that is. At its best, work gives people purpose, routine, relationships and recognition. It helps us feel needed. It gives structure to our days and connection with others. But work can only do that when people feel they belong there.
Too many are not.
The 2026 Belonging Barometer found that disabled people are far less likely to feel part of a team at work: 31 per cent, compared with 53 per cent of non-disabled people. That a huge gap matters. If people feel unseen, unsupported or expendable at work, we should not be surprised when work becomes harder to sustain.
Nor does poor health exist in isolation. The ONS has found that many people who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness have several overlapping health problems. More than half report depression, anxiety or bad nerves, often alongside pain, mobility issues and other conditions.
This is not evidence of laziness or dependency. It is evidence of a country in which health, work and community have frayed at the same time.
The misleading way the debate around PIP is often framed is a case in point. The Timms review makes clear that PIP is both highly valued and not fit for purpose. That is not a contradiction. It is the reality of a benefit that many disabled people depend on, but too often have to fight through a hostile and exhausting system to receive. PIP is not an out-of-work benefit. It helps with the extra costs of disability and is claimed by many people who are working. For many disabled people, support is not what keeps them from work. It is what allows them to keep going.
A good system should not write people off, nor should it wave people through. It should protect those who cannot work, support those who could work with help, and expect employers to make work genuinely possible.
That means earlier treatment, better occupational health, flexible employers, decent jobs and trust. It means asking not only whether someone is fit for work, but what would make participation possible.
Britain cannot cut its way to a healthier workforce. It cannot shame people into recovery. And it cannot build prosperity by treating illness as a character flaw.
The purpose of welfare should not be to manage people’s exclusion, but to help them find a way back to dignity, belonging and meaningful contribution.
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Kim Samuel is the founder of the Belonging Forum.
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