Tony Blair, The Majority of People With ADHD Are in Work — Or Desperately Trying to Be
Tony Blair is right that the benefits system needs an overhaul. He's just looking at completely the wrong part. And why is nobody talking about the £69,260 per year funding to support those who are in work?
Let's set the scene. This week, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change dropped a report calling for an "emergency handbrake" on welfare spending. The headline? People with ADHD, mild depression, and generalised anxiety should be reclassified as having "non-work-limiting conditions" — and lose access to cash benefits, including PIP (Personal Independence Payment) and the health element of Universal Credit.
The neurodivergent community responded accordingly. And honestly? Fair enough.
But instead of just adding to the pile of (completely valid) outrage, I want to do something a little different. I want to actually look at what the report says, what the data really shows, and — most importantly — what the DWP could be doing instead. Because there IS a conversation worth having about supporting neurodivergent people into meaningful work. This report is just asking entirely the wrong question.
(I'm Amy, an ADHD coach and founder of NeuroMagic. If you're looking for ADHD coaching that actually fits your brain, you can find out more here. But first — let's get into this.)
What the Tony Blair Institute Actually Said
The TBI report, published 28 April 2026, flagged that spending on working-age health and disability benefits is set to hit £73.4 billion by 2030–31 — more than the UK's entire defence budget. It notes that 4.5 million working-age people are now claiming benefits due to ill health or disability, up from 2.8 million pre-pandemic.
Their proposed "three-tier handbrake" includes creating a new category of "non-work-limiting conditions" — ADHD, mild depression, and anxiety falling neatly into this box — where the assumption is the person can work and should not receive cash benefits. Support would instead be redirected to treatment and employment programmes (rather than cash), applied consistently across PIP and Universal Credit (UC health) applications.
They claim this could save £11.5 billion. YouGov polling commissioned for the report found that nearly half of respondents believe too many conditions are currently deemed work-limiting.
"The system is drawing too many people into long-term dependency for conditions that are often treatable and compatible with work." — Dr Charlotte Refsum, TBI Director of Health Policy
On the surface? Parts of this sound reasonable. Work generally is beneficial to mental health. Long-term benefit dependency can harm people. The cost is genuinely ballooning. But the devil, as always, is in the detail.
A Critical Analysis: Where This Report Gets It Wrong
1. It confuses "can work" with "can work without support"
This is the fundamental flaw. Yes, many people with ADHDcan work — and some of us do it brilliantly. But a lot of us manage to do so precisely because we have adapted environments, understanding managers, ADHD coaching, assistive technology, or the personal financial resources to manage our condition. Take away financial support and the ability to sustain employment often collapses entirely.
Also — and this is really important — PIP is not primarily an "out-of-work benefit." The name says it all: Personal Independence Payment. It exists to cover the real costs of disability: medication, therapy, specialist equipment, travel adaptations, extra food planning time. For someone with ADHD, that might look like ADHD coaching, body-doubling apps, noise-cancelling headphones, or organisational support. Research by Scope estimates disabled households face average extra costs of around £1,095 per month. PIP at the maximum enhanced rate covers just £778 every four weeks. Do the maths.
(Curious what ADHD coaching actually involves and whether it might help you? Here's how I work with clients at NeuroMagic.)
2. It completely ignores the diagnostic crisis
The report treats a surge in mental health claims as evidence of "system misuse." But here's some context: as of February 2026, NHS Digital estimates there are 2.5 million people in England with ADHD — and up to 2.76 million people may currently be waiting for an ADHD assessment. Only 0.32% of GP records carry a formal ADHD diagnosis. That's roughly one in nine people with ADHD who are formally diagnosed.
This isn't people suddenly faking ADHD for benefits. This is a generation finally being diagnosed — often in their 30s, 40s, and 50s — after decades of struggling in silence, being told they're lazy, disorganised, or difficult. The surge in claims is a diagnostic backlog catching up. Not a crisis of fraud.
3. It treats ADHD as mild or manageable by default
The report frames ADHD as generally compatible with work "if the right support is in place" — and then proposes removing the financial support that makes that possible. Of people with ADHD diagnoses, research suggests 41.9% report mild ADHD, 45.3% moderate, and 12.8% severe. That means the majority of diagnosed individuals have moderate to severe ADHD. And even those with mild ADHD can experience profound functional difficulties in specific work environments.
4. It promises support it knows the NHS can't deliver
Those losing benefits would be offered "treatment and employment support" instead. But we are in the middle of a catastrophic NHS mental health crisis. Six in ten adults waiting for an ADHD assessment have been on the waiting list for over a year. The NHS has spent over £512 million on private ADHD assessments since 2023/24 because it cannot keep up with demand. What treatment, exactly, is going to replace the cash?
The PIP Reality: What People With ADHD Actually Receive
Let's be clear about what PIP actually is and who gets it.
PIP has two components: Daily Living (support with everyday tasks) and Mobility (support with getting around), each assessed at Standard or Enhanced rates. As of April 2026, the rates range from £76.70 (weekly) for standard daily living, to £194.60 (weekly) for the maximum enhanced living.
As of January 2026, 3.9 million people in England and Wales claim PIP. Of those, just 37% receive the highest level of award. The maximum is £194.60 per week — or £778.40 every four weeks.
For ADHD in the PIP system: in 2023, just over 52,000 people had ADHD listed as their primary disabling condition for PIP. That makes it the 14th most common condition out of over 500 on the DWP's list. The success rate for ADHD claims is 43% — below the overall average of 53%. So the idea that ADHD is a golden ticket to easy benefits? Simply not supported by the data.
Of those who do receive PIP for ADHD, 98% receive the Daily Living component — reflecting the real, daily functional impact of the condition. Only 41% receive the enhanced rate for both components combined.
What the DWP Could Actually Do: The Access to Work Argument
Up to £69,260 per year, per person, in real, targeted support. That's what Access to Work offers. So why is nobody talking about that?
Here is where the TBI report frustrates me most — not because it's entirely wrong about the need for reform, but because it's looking in completely the wrong direction.
Access to Work (ATW) is a DWP scheme that funds practical support for disabled and neurodivergent people in employment. For 2024/25, it offers grants of up to £69,260 per person per year — covering ADHD coaching, specialist software, support workers, noise-cancelling technology, travel adaptations, and more. The grant is not repaid. It does not affect other benefits. And it genuinely transforms working lives.
Think about that for a moment. £69,260 in targeted support to keep someone employed, contributing to the economy, paying tax, building their confidence, growing their mental health — versus £778.40 every four weeks in PIP and the risk of long-term benefit dependency. The maths is obvious. The choice should be obvious.
And yet Access to Work is catastrophically underused. As of October 2024, 55,000 applications were outstanding, with some people waiting over six months for assessments. Most employers have never heard of it. Many neurodivergent workers don't even know it exists.
I know this first-hand. I had to contact my local MP, Lisa Smart, about serious payment problems with Access to Work payments as a supplier — delays that were causing real financial hardship and undermining the very support that I was trying to provide to women like me; functioning and working. If you're having similar issues, you can read more about navigating Access to Work here.
The irony is profound: the DWP runs a scheme capable of genuinely supporting neurodivergent people into meaningful, sustained employment — and it's drowning in bureaucracy, underfunded in terms of staffing and processing capacity, and almost entirely unknown to the employers who need to co-sign it.
What a properly funded ATW system could look like:
Dedicated neurodivergent support advisers who understand ADHD, autism, and co-occurring conditions
Faster processing — applications assessed within 4 weeks, not 6 months
Employer education programmes so HR teams and line managers understand ATW and how to support neurodivergent employees through it
ADHD coaching funded as standard for qualifying conditions — not a bonus add-on but a core tool
Self-employed and freelance workers included on equal terms (currently much harder to access)None of this requires cutting benefits. It requires investing in a smarter system.
The Majority of People With ADHD Are in Work — or Want to Be
The government's own data shows that only 31% of people with a neurodivergent condition are in employment, compared to 54.7% of disabled people overall and 82% of non-disabled people. That is a significant gap. But it's not because people with ADHD don't want to work.
Research consistently shows that ADHD can be a remarkable workplace superpower in the right environment. Hyperfocus, creative problem-solving, risk appetite, pattern recognition, high-energy output on passion projects — these are not deficits dressed up positively. They're genuine strengths that organisations with neuroinclusive cultures are actively seeking.
The CIPD's 2024 Neuroinclusion at Work guide found that 96% of ADHD professionals reported reluctance to disclose their diagnosis at work — not because they can't work, but because they fear the stigma. Meanwhile, organisations that build neuroinclusive cultures report 28% higher revenues and significantly improved problem-solving outcomes.
Some workplaces are already brilliant at this — listening, adjusting, funding ATW, creating psych-safe environments where neurodivergent people don't mask all day, every day, burning through their capacity before 11am. Those employers are not struggling. They're thriving.
The question is not whether people with ADHD can work. Most of us want nothing more than work that allows us to be ourselves. The question is whether the system supports us to do that — or whether it's designed in a way that makes us fail, then cuts us off for failing.
(If you're a neurodivergent professional trying to navigate work with ADHD, ADHD coaching can genuinely be the thing that changes everything. Not because your brain is broken — but because you've probably never had the right support.)
The Real Reform We Need
The TBI report is not entirely wrong. There is a moral case for not trapping people in long-term benefit dependency when they could be supported into meaningful work. There is a case for ensuring the system doesn't inadvertently discourage employment. There is a need for better mental health provision.
But the solution is not to reclassify ADHD as "non-work-limiting" and remove the financial lifeline that helps many of us afford to work in the first place. The solution is:
Properly fund and reform Access to Work — faster, smarter, more accessible
Invest in employer education and neuroinclusive workplace standards
Fund ADHD coaching and executive function support as a preventative health measure
Reduce NHS ADHD diagnostic waiting lists so people get support before crisis
Design a benefits system that rewards supported employment rather than punishing those who try
Treat neurodivergent people as an asset to the economy, not a cost line to be managed
£69,260* in targeted support per year keeps someone employed, contributing, growing. That is infinitely better economics than a welfare trap. So let's invest in the system that actually works.
*On average, and in my experience as an Access to Work provider of ADHD support services, a 12 week coaching package award ranges from £1500 - £3000.
I'm Amy. I'm an ADHD coach, late-diagnosed myself, and the founder of NeuroMagic. I believe ADHD is not a problem to be fixed — it's a different kind of brain that needs a different kind of system. If you'd like to work with me, you can find out more on my website or DM me on Instagram @neuromagic.amy
References & Further Reading
