Tackling hardship for people receiving work-related disability benefits
Date published: 14 November 2024
People receiving ‘work-related disability benefits’ – health-related Universal Credit (UC) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – face unacceptable levels of hardship. A quarter of adults on health-related UC used a food bank in the last year, and a third were unable to afford to keep their house warm. This compares to 3% and 11%, respectively, for the general working-age population.
Three-quarters of adults receiving health-related UC are experiencing material deprivation. This is even higher than the two-thirds of adults receiving non-health-related UC experiencing material deprivation. This compares to a fifth for the general working-age population.
Even comparing only within families on UC where no one is in work, people receiving health-related UC have a similarly high risk of deprivation as people receiving non-health-related UC. This is despite extra health-related payments via the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element.
Scope’s latest research shows that, on average, disabled households need an additional £1,010 a month to maintain the same standard of living as non-disabled households, although this will vary according to individual circumstances.
Tackling hardship must involve improving circumstances for people receiving work-related disability benefits. With so many people being held back from participating in good jobs, this is also crucial to the Government’s objectives around economic growth and security for all.
There are 2 main routes to addressing the hardship facing people receiving work-related disability benefits. Firstly, increasing the adequacy of these benefits, which are vital lifelines for disabled people; and secondly, supporting disabled people who can work into the labour market.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s (JRF) programme of work with Trussell on an Essentials Guarantee is a response to the first route. It would help ensure UC provides anyone who needs it with enough support to at least afford essentials.
This present policy report is focused on the second route. It proposes several reforms to work-related disability benefits and related employment support. JRF has designed these with input from disability equality charity Scope, informed by our new joint research published alongside this report. This involved in-depth discussions with and surveys of disabled people.
www.jrf.org.uk/work/unlocking-benefits-tackling-barriers-for-disabled-people-wanting-to-work
