In order to help inform the debate on public spending cuts the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently published a report which highlights and examines the five predominant benefits that compose, or add to, the income of the five million out-of-work working-age adults. These include – Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support (IS), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
Key findings from the report indicate that:
- Of the approximately five million out-of-work, working-age adults currently receiving an income replacement benefit, about 50 per cent do so because of disability or ill-health (ESA or IB/IS), 30 per cent because of unemployment (JSA) and 20 per cent by virtue of being either a lone parent or a carer (IS).
- After allowing for inflation, JSA and IS of £65.45 a week are worth what they were in 1997. £65.45 is equivalent to just 41 per cent of the Minimum Income Standard for a single working-age adult.
- There are particular concerns that the health needs of mental health service users are not being taken fully into account under the new eligibility conditions.
- The extension of ESA to existing claimants of incapacity benefits from autumn 2010 onwards strongly risks causing distress while doing little to increase employment.
- Major reforms have been made to working-age benefits since October 2008, for lone parents and especially for those who are disabled or ill. There is no doubt that these reforms have tightened the conditions for eligibility: what is unclear is by how much
This paper also analyses the geography of the claims; the life styles of those claiming disability and illness benefits; and gives consideration to what these benefits are worth and how much they cost the taxpayer.
Read it here
http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/working-age-welfare.pdf
