Rising living costs are making daily life more difficult for households across the UK, particularly during the winter when energy needs are highest. But new research showing the alarming extent to which disabled people are being affected should prompt a swift and targeted response. In one case, a severely disabled child in Wales lost his overnight nursing care package because his parents were unable to afford to heat their home to the level required by nurses. Rising energy costs are, for obvious reasons, disproportionately harmful to all those who for health reasons need more energy for heating or to power medical equipment. In this case, a hospice offered a placement, but ministers cannot expect charities to fill the gaps created when public provision breaks down. Many are already overwhelmed.
Using a recent survey of 8,000 people, combined with data from before the recent spike in inflation, the Resolution Foundation found that the gap between the median incomes of disabled and non-disabled UK households is 44%. This calculation excludes disability benefits, which makes sense if seeking a like-for-like comparison, as these benefits are intended to compensate for higher living costs due to having a disability.
The researchers also found that nearly three times as many disabled adults report being materially deprived as non-disabled ones. Although material deprivation rates fell overall between 2013-14 and 2020-21 due to the low price of gas, difficulties in affording essentials have more recently sharply increased. A situation in which more than a third of disabled adults report being unable to afford basic items, and 41% cannot keep their homes warm, should be universally regarded as unacceptable. For people already in poor health, hunger and cold can be expected to increase hardship and risks.
The employment gap between disabled and non-disabled adults is one area where policymakers should be more active. Discrimination and other barriers including transport costs mean that it is harder than it should be for disabled people to find, and keep, jobs. Around one-third of all adults in the lowest household income decile have a disability, compared with around one-tenth in the highest. Another factor contributing to the link between disability and poverty is the role of carers. In addition to the low incomes and employment rates of people with disabilities, caring duties may restrict the earning capacities of family members.
But unemployment among disabled people, or their relatives, is not the only reason for the income gap. Ever since the UK’s embrace of austerity, benefit levels have been kept low (although disability benefits, like pensions, have increased relative to other working-age benefits). But recent evidence shows that payments are not now sufficient to cope with the higher living costs associated with disability. Recognising this, the government has committed to raise these benefits in line with consumer prices, and to repeat cost of living payments. But with a backlog of around 250,000 new claimants waiting to be assessed, delays and the rising number of claims – including a tripling in applications from teenagers – provide two more reasons for concern. Pressure on disabled pensioners is another.
The number of people in the UK with a disability rose from 17% in 2013 to 23% in 2022, pointing to a widening public health crisis and underfunded health and care system. Last year 70% of new disability benefit claims from people aged under 25 related to mental health conditions. This trend is alarming for many reasons, and demands an evidence-based policy response. But the most urgent need is for ministers to ensure that disabled people’s living standards do not fall further behind, causing distress and further increasing the already-unsustainable load on voluntary sector bodies such as food banks.
