DWP benefits update for people in work who have anxiety or depressionWorkers who received both NHS talking therapies and employment support were 4.2 percentage points more likely to claim DWP benefitsView Image Workers who received both NHS talking therapies and employment support were 4.2 percentage points more likely to claim DWP benefitsWorkers with anxiety or depression are more likely to end up on Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits after receiving advice from government job coaches, official figures show. ‌Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show workers who received both NHS talking therapies and employment support were 4.2 percentage points more likely to claim DWP benefits three years later. The Labour Party government placed an expansion of NHS Talking Therapies – which already costs hundreds of millions of pounds a year – at the centre of a 2025 white paper. ‌The white paper claimed that “extensive literature and studies” showed that NHS Talking Therapies improved employment outcomes. “What this new data shows is that the government’s plans are not only harmful, but that they also will not work.