Support for disability benefits remains “remarkably strong” and cutting them would be “politically risky” according to a new report.
The analysis, from the British Social Attitudes survey, found that fewer than one in 10 people favoured cutting welfare payments for the disabled, with almost half of people saying they would support more being spent on them, even if it led to higher taxes.
The report comes amid mounting concerns among several political parties about the growing cost of disability benefits.
Spending on the main disability benefit is forecast to more than double in a decade, reaching £41bn by 2030.
But the report says that cutting these payments would not be easy.
“Despite growing political divisions on welfare, support for disability benefits remains remarkably strong,” said Dr Robert de Vries from the University of Kent, who was one of the report’s co-authors.
“Very few people favour cuts, disabled people are seen as among the most deserving recipients of support, and proposals to reduce disability benefits appear politically risky across the political spectrum.”
The analysis is based on 4,656 interviews gathered between August and October 2025.
The authors noted that the timing of the interviews, just after the Sir Keir Starmer’s government had failed to reform PIP, meant it was “possible that people were particularly supportive of disability benefits at the time”.
They cautioned that public attitudes to disability benefits “crucially depend on which disabled people are in the public’s mind”, referencing previous research that showed that “some types of disabled people are seen as ‘deserving’ by the public”.
The findings come despite the proportion of those who support increasing welfare spending for the poor being at a near record low.
Labour, the Conservative party and Reform UK have all said there is a need to reduce the amount of money being spent on health and disability benefits, while the Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP oppose reductions.
Efforts by Sir Keir to introduce cuts last year were opposed by many in his own party, forcing a government climbdown.
The proportion of GDP the UK spends on all welfare benefits for those of working age has remained broadly flat over the past 40 years, at just under 5%.
It has occasionally increased to over 5%, including in the 1990s, after the financial crisis in 2008, and during the Covid pandemic.
Despite that, the survey found that support for increasing welfare payments to help the poor was close to the lowest level the researchers have ever recorded.
Asked if “the government should spend more money on welfare benefits for the poor, even if it leads to higher taxes,” 27% replied they should while 42% were opposed.
