Petition · past parliament · Department for Work and Pensions

Increase Statutory Sick Pay from £96.35 to £233.10/week

Closed 68 signatures

What the petition asks

Increase Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from £96.35/week to at least £233.10/week. On average, between 23-49% of an employees monthly salary goes towards rent alone, excl. every day essentials. Current SSP is just 18.6% of average monthly salary, an unrealistic number for anyone to live off of.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is £96.35/week. This means the average employee will earn just £2.75/hr while off sick.

The average total pay, for employees in Great Britain was £518 per week in 2021. This means that while off sick, an employee is only entitled to just 18.6% of average weekly pay. (ons.gov.uk)

People spend an average of 45% on rent per week. £233.10 is the minimum our government should pay, to ensure its citizens quality of life does not dramatically decrease while off sick.

Timeline

30 Jul 2021 Petition opened for signatures
30 Jan 2022 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 68
Status Closed
Department Department for Work and Pensions
Opened 30 Jul 2021
Closed 30 Jan 2022

Follow this petition

Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.

Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.