The number of people claiming invalidity benefit under the WIA scheme rose by 35,000 (21%) in 2010, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday.

The WIA was set up in 2006 to replace the old discredited WAO benefit system which had around one million claimants at its height at the beginning of this century.
The state run job centres which administer the benefit said the increase is partly due to demographic changes. Because more women and older people are working, invalidity benefit claims are going up, the centres say.
‘For example, in the healthcare sector, there is a direct link between the increase in older female workers and the rise in WIA claims,’ a spokesman told the paper.
Under the WIA system, only people who are considered less than 35% fit to work are eligible for pay outs.