Fiscal Case

Unemployment, sickness and disability benefits: Restoring Public Finances

Chapter 3 of the OECD's Restoring Public Finances (May 2026) reviews how governments are trying to contain spending on unemployment, sickness and disability benefits. Public spending on these benefits was nearly 8% of GDP across the OECD in 2023, with sickness and disability spending nearly four times unemployment spending. Norway spends nearly six times as much as Ireland (% of GDP), a gap the OECD says health status cannot explain.