Welfare spending on working-age adults to rise by 2030 - Office for Budget Responsibilitypublished at 16:47 Greenwich Mean Time
There's been a lot of focus today on the amount of welfare spending for working-age adults.
As we reported earlier, the prime minister's spokesperson raised the issue when defending the government's focus on reform.
Asked by journalists if planned changes are coming as a result of the UK's fiscal backdrop, they said no.
Instead they pointed to, among other things, the UK having the "highest level of working-age inactivity due to ill health in western Europe".
Welfare spending on working age adults - defined as those aged between 16 and 64 - was £48.5 billion in 2023-24. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projects it is due to rise to £75.7 billion in 2029-30, as the graph below illustrates.
