Quite a few of the people who did take it up were long term unemployed, in their late twenties/early thirties, who were on the point of becoming institutionalised into unemployment/ on sink estates in run down mining villages/steel towns. Now they would, if their life is still running the same way be twenty years older and unemployable, so there's no personal reason for them to come off the sick for another 15 years.

Another factor I seem to remember was at this time there was a thing in the news saying that benefit officers were to get cash bonuses to reduce the number of people on the books, and there was an undercurrent among the consumers that it wasn't considered to be that important how the numbers were reduced.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.