an IFS Working Paper (W15/09) by James Banks, Richard Blundell and Carl Emmerson (Institute for Fiscal Studies) [found in Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 29 Number 2 (Spring 2015]
Abstract
The UK has enacted a number of reforms to the structure of disability benefits, which has made it a major case study for other countries thinking of reform.
The introduction of Incapacity Benefit in 1995 coincided with a strong decline in disability benefit expenditure, reversing previous sharp increases. From 2008 the replacement of Incapacity Benefit with Employment and Support Allowance was intended to reduce spending further.
We bring together administrative and survey data over the period and highlight key differences in receipt of disability benefits by age, sex and health. These disability benefit reforms and the trends in receipt are also put into the context of broader trends in health and employment by education and sex. We document a growing proportion of claimants in any age group with mental and behavioural disorders as their principal health condition.
We also show the decline in the number of older working age men receiving disability benefits to have been partially offset by growth in the number of younger women receiving these benefits. We speculate on the impact of disability reforms on employment.
Full text (PDF)
Showing posts with label Incapacity_Benefits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Incapacity_Benefits. Show all posts
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Fit for purpose? …
Welfare reform and challenges for health and labour market policy in the UK
an article by Colin Lindsay and Donald Houston published in Environment and Planning A (Volume 43 Number 3 (March 2011))
Abstract
In the UK, as in some other EU states, the focus of recent welfare reforms has switched from those on unemployment benefits to those receiving sickness/incapacity benefits (IBs), reflecting concerns around the large numbers falling into the this last group. The Labour government elected in 1997 introduced a range of measures to activate those on IBs, setting a target of a one million reduction in the number of claimants by the end of 2015. The Conservative Party similarly came to acknowledge that high levels of IB claiming represented a problem of ‘unemployment hidden as sickness’, and in coalition now proposes even more aggressive supply-side strategies. This paper provides an extensive review of the most recent evidence to identify factors driving the rise in the number of people claiming IBs and, in light of this analysis, assesses whether current policy is fit for purpose. An important conclusion is that any national ‘one-size fits all’ supply-side policy response is blind to the distinctive geography of receipt of IBs and the complex combination of factors that leave some people trapped on these benefits.
Hazel’s comment:
What a place to find an article of this importance to the careers and advice community!!
an article by Colin Lindsay and Donald Houston published in Environment and Planning A (Volume 43 Number 3 (March 2011))
Abstract
In the UK, as in some other EU states, the focus of recent welfare reforms has switched from those on unemployment benefits to those receiving sickness/incapacity benefits (IBs), reflecting concerns around the large numbers falling into the this last group. The Labour government elected in 1997 introduced a range of measures to activate those on IBs, setting a target of a one million reduction in the number of claimants by the end of 2015. The Conservative Party similarly came to acknowledge that high levels of IB claiming represented a problem of ‘unemployment hidden as sickness’, and in coalition now proposes even more aggressive supply-side strategies. This paper provides an extensive review of the most recent evidence to identify factors driving the rise in the number of people claiming IBs and, in light of this analysis, assesses whether current policy is fit for purpose. An important conclusion is that any national ‘one-size fits all’ supply-side policy response is blind to the distinctive geography of receipt of IBs and the complex combination of factors that leave some people trapped on these benefits.
Hazel’s comment:
What a place to find an article of this importance to the careers and advice community!!
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