New benefit rates take effect from 6 April 2025

Statutory Sick Pay rose to up to £118.75 a week from 6 April 2025, and rates for New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment also changed on the same date, according to the charity Gingerbread¹.

On sick pay, Gingerbread says employees can claim from their employer for 28 weeks, with payment from the fourth day off work, and that claimants normally have to earn at least £125.00 to qualify. After the first seven days, a note from a doctor or another healthcare professional is needed to continue being paid¹.

For Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), the charity gives the following weekly rates for single parents from 6 April 2025¹:

Claimants move into the work-related activity group or the support group after a work capability assessment. Gingerbread states that New Style ESA requires National Insurance contributions paid or credited in the two full tax years before the year of the claim, and a doctor's note after the first seven days¹.

On Personal Independence Payment, Gingerbread says claimants could get between £29.20 and £187.45 a week from 6 April 2025, depending on how much their disability or health condition affects them. PIP can be claimed whether or not the person is working, regardless of earnings or savings¹.

For Universal Credit, the charity says the limited capability for work and work-related activity element is worth an extra £416.19 per month where the Department for Work and Pensions decides a claimant does not have to look for work or prepare for work¹.

Why it matters for households

The changes set the amounts paid to people who are off work sick, unable to work because of a health condition or disability, or managing a long-term condition while in work. For anyone whose claim or sick leave began around the start of the tax year, the weekly or monthly amount they receive is set by these figures from 6 April 2025¹.

The ESA rates differ by age for single parents and by which group a claimant is placed in after assessment, so two households on the same benefit can receive different weekly amounts. The support group rate of £140.55 is £48.50 a week above the £92.05 paid in the first 13 weeks and the work-related activity group¹.

PIP is paid at a rate determined by the assessed effect of a condition rather than by earnings, so it is unaffected by wages or savings, and the range runs from £29.20 to £187.45 a week¹. The Universal Credit health element of £416.19 a month is paid on top of other Universal Credit entitlement where the DWP decides the claimant has limited capability for work and work-related activity¹.

These are the rates reported by Gingerbread. The annual uprating that sets April rates, and the government's own published figures for 2025 to 2026, have not been reported here.

What happens next

The rates apply from 6 April 2025¹. Gingerbread's page was last updated on 29 May 2025¹. No further changes to these rates have been reported.