A benefit claimant has said people may struggle to find work because they cannot find a job they consider ‘meaningful’.
Gigi El-Halaby made these comments during a discussion about why unemployment persists, especially among people receiving Personal Independence Allowance (PIP).
Speaking to Simon Marks on LBC, Ms El-Halaby said one of the problems she encountered was the availability of jobs suitable for her circumstances.
She said: ‘A really important one is that jobs have to be meaningful, and that can’t just be put into any job.
‘I think work can be good for your mental health and bad work can be terrible.’
Mr Marks responded, saying many people are working in jobs they don’t consider meaningful.
He said: “I hear listeners say I go to work every day. I don’t find my job particularly meaningful,” adding that society could not just create jobs that every worker saw as meaningful.
Ms El-Halaby agreed that not every job can be meaningful for every worker, but said the issue is different when it comes to helping those who are mentally unwell.
Gigi El-Halaby (pictured), a PIP claimant, says people have struggled to find suitable work as she believes jobs should be meaningful and accessible for people with mental illness and disabilities
Simon Marks (pictured) challenged the idea that work has to be meaningful, pointing out that many people work simply to earn a wage and pay their bills
She added, “When we talk about getting people who are mentally unwell to a better place, ultimately finding meaning and purpose in their lives is going to be a really important part of getting them out of that hole.”
She also said employers should consider whether workplaces are accessible to individual employees.
She said: ‘I’ve been in many work environments where it wasn’t accessible to me.
‘Ultimately, working at Boots, for example, is not an accessible job for me. And for some people it will be the same.’
The comments come as the government focuses more on moving benefit recipients into work.
The government’s Jobs Guarantee started placing eligible young people into paid work this year.
The scheme is available to 18 to 24-year-olds who are claiming Universal Credit and have been looking for work for 18 months, with the government funding up to 25 hours of paid work per week for six months.
The government says more than 90,000 jobs are expected to be created by 2029.
PIP, or Personal Independence Payment, is a benefit for people aged 16 or over who have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability that makes it difficult to carry out certain daily activities or get around.
Her comments come as the government tries to encourage more people receiving benefits into work, including through the youth jobs guarantee
The interim Timms Review, published in July, received more than 38,000 responses, with 90% reporting negative experiences. It looked at concerns about its benefit and its assessment process. The photo shows Sir Stephen Timms
It is intended to help with the additional living costs associated with a disability or long-term health condition.
It has separate components for daily living and mobility, and eligibility is based on how a person’s condition affects them, not just whether they have a job. People can receive PIP while they work or have savings.
In an interview with LBC last month, Ms El-Halaby said: ‘I have been receiving PIP for a year and a half. I have struggled with poor mental and physical health since I was nine.
“It came to a head after I got a COVID infection and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and I also have IBS and a lot of other psychiatric disorders.”
The government published the interim report of the Timms review last month on July 9, the first full review of PIP since 2013.
It heard from more than 38,000 people, 90 per cent of whom described negative experiences, and concluded that the benefit was not fit for purpose and that the reviews were ‘dehumanising’, ‘degrading’ and ‘stressful’.
The number of young people classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training) has risen to 981,000 according to the latest official figures.
The total for the three months to June was 30,000 higher than a year earlier, although down from just over a million in early 2026.
This figure represents 13 percent, or about one in eight, of all 16 to 24 year olds.
The number of NEETs has risen by 61,000, from 920,000 in the second quarter of 2024, shortly before Labor came to power.
The figures come as concerns about Britain’s youth labor market grow under Prime Minister Andy Burnham describing youth unemployment as a ‘top priority’ and saying it had been ‘ignored for too long’.
In the full clip posted by LBC, Ms El-Halaby said: “Issues that I think have occurred to me. And a big one is that jobs have to be meaningful, and that can’t just be put into any job. I think work can be good for your mental health, and bad work can be really terrible for it.
Marks responded: I hear a lot of listeners say, I go to work every day. I don’t find my work particularly meaningful.
“And I’m sure they’re sorry that they don’t find their jobs particularly meaningful, but they go to work, they earn a wage, they come home, they pay their bills, they pay their taxes.
‘I mean, unfortunately it’s not possible for a society to just create jobs that every worker finds meaningful.
El-Halaby responded, “Sure, okay, so I agree with that, but when we talk about getting people who are mentally unwell to a better place, ultimately finding meaning and purpose in their lives is going to be a very important part of getting them out of that hole.
‘And not only that, we also have to think about the working environment. I’ve been in many work environments where it wasn’t accessible to me. Ultimately, for example, working in boots is not an accessible job for me. And for some people it will be that way.
