Nearly half of voters support benefits for people with anxiety and depression

Nearly half of voters believe people living with anxiety and depression should be able to claim disability or sickness-related welfare payments.

The public are more likely to support, than oppose, a system which allows those living with such mental health conditions to claim sickness benefits, new polling shows.

But there is also support for a stricter assessment process to determine who should be able to claim, according to the survey.

Shorts

It comes after a significant rise in benefit claims linked to mental health conditions paid out in recent years.