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Disability Alliance is disappointed that, beyond welfare reform proposals that look to move disabled people closer to the world of work, there is almost nothing in the Chancellor’s budget that even begins to deal with the ‘ungenerous’ welfare benefits system, as described by Freud. Quite simply, disabled people do not receive sufficient income through welfare benefits and tax credits to meet their extra needs.
Disabled people are less likely to be in paid work than other citizens. They have lower levels of qualifications, earn less than others with the same qualifications and are more likely to live in poverty. There are more disabled adults of working age living in poverty than either children or pensioners living in poverty. There is some evidence that employers are becoming more likely to make adjustments for their employees – however, too many are still not recruiting or retaining disabled workers. Around one in six workers lose their job after developing an impairment or long-term health condition. Once out of work, many encounter negative attitudes from employers.
We call on the Chancellor to begin to investigate the true complexity of this situation and pay the same attention to the financial plight of disabled people of working age as is currently focused on children and pensioners. After all, the risk of poverty is higher for children with working disabled parents than for children of non-disabled working parents. And one quarter of all disabled parents with incomes below the relative poverty line are in work. Until this situation is properly explored, Mr Brown runs a big risk of missing out on his own Government’s targets on child poverty.
This letter was published in "The Guardian" on Friday March 23, 2007.
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