David Craig, on July 2nd, 2025Thursday-Friday blog
Here’s a comparison of disability rates and disability payments for ten European countries. The countries are ranked in order of the most generous to the least generous.
The most generous country in terms of how much disabled people can get paid appears to be Switzerland, though I’m not convinced by the figure – it looks rather too high to me. I have checked other sources and believe the actual figure for Switzerland is about £2,000 a month and NOT the £7,149 shown on the table above.
But the UK has the highest percentage (21.7%) of people with a disability in Europe and comes in 6th place on the leaderboard for the highest monthly disability allowance.
While every European nation offers some financial assistance, either in the form of a benefit, or pension scheme, the UK has some of the best additional benefits for disabled individuals. As the UK is also one of the only countries with a National Health Service, any treatment relating to disabilities is often free and ultimately far cheaper than the rest of Europe.
If you’re living in the UK and have a disability, you could be entitled to the following:
Disability Allowance
- £679.90 per month on average
Home
- Up to 100% council tax discount
- Winter fuel payments up to £300
- £140 warm home discount scheme – discount on gas or electricity bills
- WaterSure scheme to cap your water bills
- Disabled facilities grant to modify homes between £25,000 – £36,000
Travel
- Free bus pass
- Blue Badge scheme, allowing for free parking
- Motability scheme, where you trade some or all of enhanced mobility component towards the cost of a vehicle
- Up to a third off rail tickets with a disabled person’s railcard
- Vehicle tax exemption
Of course, the difference in the percentage of people who are classed as disabled depends on how each country defines ‘disabled’. But it is ludicrous to suggest that all Britain’s 14.6 million (21.7% of the population) supposed ‘disabled’ really are disabled, when countries like Germany with a population of 83 million only has 7.9 million disabled, Italy with a population of 59 million has only 3.2 million disabled and Spain with a population 48 million has just 2.5 million disabled. Moreover in sick-note Britain, every single day 3,000 more people are being signed off work – up from 2,000 a day under the Tories. Maybe that’s why you can’t get to see a doctor – they’re all too busy helping skivers and parasites into a life of leisure at working people’s expense?
Looking at the chart, a cynic might even think that the more a country gives to its ‘disabled’ the more ‘disabled’ that country tends to have.
While the lefties bleat and moan about the cruel proposed benefits cuts to Britain’s supposed ‘disabled’, I get the feeling that at least 4 to 5 million of Britain’s 14.6 million ‘disabled’ are probably a lot more healthy than yours truly.
Category: 
When I was born there were no benefits. Families had to provide the support. My grandmother was unable to walk and she was carried upstairs to bed in a chair. Family members had to arrange who would be there to do it. Of course, that was also a time when families lived locally to each other.
The change has been the deliberate destruction of family life to enable to state to control more and more of our lives. It will eventually collapse.
Its completely bonkers and with telephone tick box assessments i assume the correct answers are widely shared. You can of course receive these benefits and work cash in hand which i expect is the norm these days.
These figures were quoted in the times:
Enhanced PIP payments for autism
2019: 26,256
2025: 114,211
Anxiety and depression
2019: 23,647
2025: 110,075
ADHD
2019: 4,233
2025: 37,339
‘Obesity’
2019: 2,346
2025: 11,228
Via @the_tpa in @thetimes
I also read that receipt pip for being alcohol dependent and that qualifies you for a free motability car. Its ridiculous and i would stop it completely. The state spending is out of control and its pretty obvious why with these examples.
The option of telephone assessment or online application is ridiculous.
Cancel all disability benefits in (say) 12 months time. You have those 12 months to reclaim your benefits by appearing in person and proving that you need those benefits. A lengthy interview so you can be observed for longer.
It’s not hard to sound pathetic over the telephone, not so easy to do it face to face and especially if you have to keep it up for long.
I help in a local foodbank and some of the disabled we assist drive up in big new cars to collect their freebies. It’s the system that’s unfit, not the people.
All good comments as always. The whole system needs overhauling, but our gov won’t, that would affect the gdp figure but then 50% returns in some form off tax. The ptb don’t figure that many would return to work and increase the tax take. Any earnings above 12500 should be taxed, the same as working folk. Motability car, again taxed as a company car. Its a scam. I do sympathise with the genuine cases. Overweight, stop eating takeaways. Alcoholic, stop drinking! It’s unbelievable the fraud allowed to the detriment of the tax payer.