Bereavement Support Payment: forecast on the effect of extending eligibility to cohabitees, April 2020 to March 2025
Published 29 January 2020
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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The figures in this release relate to England, Scotland and Wales.
Policy background and introduction
1. Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) is a contributory benefit for working age people intended to provide support when someone’s spouse or civil partner dies. It is a short-term benefit which contributes to the more immediate costs associated with bereavement.
2. The benefit consists of an initial lump sum and then 18 monthly payments. A higher rate is paid to those with dependent children.
3. BSP is only payable for bereavements on or after 6 April 2017. It can only be paid to spouses and civil partners, so does not apply where the couple had been cohabiting. The deceased must also have made sufficient National Insurance contributions, and the bereaved spouse or civil partner must be under pensionable age.
4. Cohabitees are defined here as a couple living together (not close relatives), who are not married or in a civil partnership.
5. The Judicial Case in January 2020, of Jackson vs the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, seeks a declaration that BSP is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, on the basis that it cannot be paid in respect of a cohabiting couple.
Purpose of publication
6. This publication provides the estimated cost, if BSP was extended to cohabiting survivors (both with and without children), and the estimated numbers affected.
Results
7. An estimate of the number of bereaved cohabiting partners who would be entitled to and claiming Bereavement Support Payment, if eligibility was extended, is set out below. Please note these represent the estimated number in each specific year, and will comprise both estimated new claimants and claimants estimated to have started in a previous year. It is therefore not appropriate to sum the figure to obtain a cumulative total.
Table 1: Estimated number of bereaved cohabiting partners receiving BSP
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 2020 to 2021 | 15,000 |
| 2021 to 2022 | 15,000 |
| 2022 to 2023 | 15,000 |
| 2023 to 2024 | 15,000 |
| 2024 to 2025 | 15,000 |
The numbers in table 1 are rounded to the nearest 5,000.
Source: Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy modelling based on Budget 2019 caseload and spending estimates.
Note: Numbers are currently being updated in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast and are subject to change following Spring Budget 2020.
8\ A policy change, to extend BSP to cohabitees, would result in an increase in Annual Managed Expenditure (AME) spend. The estimated spend in each year is set out in the table below.
Table 2: Estimated overall AME expenditure on BSP, for bereaved cohabiting partners
| Year | Total | With dependent children | Without dependent children |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 to 2021 | £50 million | £15 million | £35 million |
| 2021 to 2022 | £50 million | £15 million | £35 million |
| 2022 to 2023 | £50 million | £15 million | £35 million |
| 2023 to 2024 | £50 million | £15 million | £35 million |
| 2024 to 2025 | £50 million | £15 million | £35 million |
The numbers in table 1 are rounded to the nearest £5 million.
Source: DWP policy modelling based on Budget 2019 caseload and spending estimates.
Note: Numbers are currently being updated in line with the OBR forecast and are subject to change following Spring Budget 2020.
9. It is estimated that it would cost £50 million per year to extend BSP to bereaved cohabiting partners up to 2024 to 2025. This can be divided into £15 million for cohabiting partners with dependent children and £35 million for cohabiting partners without dependent children.
10. The change would not affect bereaved spouses and civil partners who are entitled to and claiming Bereavement Support Payment. However, to provide context in relation to bereaved cohabiting partners, Table 3 and 4 set out total forecast caseload and AME spending, directed at bereaved spouses and civil partners over the same time period.
Table 3: Estimated number of bereaved spouses and civil partners receiving BSP
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 2020 to 2021 | 55,000 |
| 2021 to 2022 | 55,000 |
| 2022 to 2023 | 55,000 |
| 2023 to 2024 | 55,000 |
| 2024 to 2025 | 55,000 |
The numbers in table 3 are rounded to the nearest 5,000.
Table 4: Estimated overall AME expenditure for bereaved spouses and civil partners
| Year | Total | With dependent children | Without dependent children |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 to 2021 | £185 million | £55 million | £130 million |
| 2021 to 2022 | £185 million | £55 million | £130 million |
| 2022 to 2023 | £185 million | £55 million | £130 million |
| 2023 to 2024 | £185 million | £55 million | £130 million |
| 2024 to 2025 | £180 million | £55 million | £125 million |
The numbers in table 4 are rounded to the nearest £5 million.
Source: DWP policy modelling based on Budget 2019 caseload and spending estimates.
Note: Numbers are currently being updated in line with the OBR forecast and are subject to change following Spring Budget 2020.
Methodology
11. Using the Office for National Statistics publication on Families and Households, the proportion of cohabiting couple families out of married and civil partner couple families was estimated. This was 27% for families with dependent children, and 28% for families without, in 2019. The relevant proportion is applied to the BSP caseload and expenditure estimates, directed at bereaved spouses and civil partners. Thus providing the estimates in Table 1 and 2.
12. This method assumes that the take up rate for bereaved spouses and civil partners, and bereaved cohabiting partners would be the same.
Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:
- trustworthiness – this is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics
- quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics
- value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information
The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.
Trustworthiness
Professional analysts have independently produced the forecast numbers affected and forecast expenditure from DWP forecasting models and have been fully quality assured by DWP analysts.
Quality
The figures presented are derived from forecasting models which feed into the department’s published benefit expenditure tables. The rigorous production of the forecast figures ensures they are our best central estimates of numbers affected and associated expenditure based on the information available. Figures have been independently quality-assured and validated.
Value
This release provides analysis relating to bereaved cohabiting partners who would be affected by a change in policy to extend the eligibility of BSP. This provides supporting information relating to the Judicial Case of Jackson vs the Department of Work and Pensions, on extending BSP to bereaved cohabiting partners.
To support financial planning and management of departmental business, figures have been seen in advance by ministers and officials, in line with the Code, where pre-release access does not apply for an ad hoc analysis release.
Contact information
For press enquiries, contact DWP Press Office on 0203 267 5144.