An estimated 800,000 parents rely on sickness benefits to support their kids, according to Action For Children.
With welfare spending on disabilities and sickness projected to reach £100bn by the end of the decade, the charity carried out a survey and in-depth interviews with parents on sickness/incapacity benefits to better understand the pressures they face and the potential solutions to getting more of them back into paid employment.
Barriers to work
Among parents who felt their health or disability didn’t rule out work completely in the future, Action for Children found the most common barriers to returning to paid employment included:
- being too unwell to work or work more right now (35%)
- not getting the treatment they need from the NHS (23%)
- a lack of suitable or flexible jobs (23%)
- a lack of remote jobs (20%)
- a fear of losing benefits if they try work (20%)
Despite commentary suggesting rising demand for incapacity benefits is being driven by a ‘sick note culture’ the charity’s findings suggested a far more complicated picture. Only 8% of parent claimants reported stress or anxiety to be their primary health condition, while 29% of parents reported a mental health condition as their primary health condition.
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Financial hardship
The survey highlighted the financial impact of living on incapacity benefits was having on families. It found that only 12% of parents being able to keep up with all bills and credit commitments without any difficulties. Nearly three in 10 (29%) had fallen behind on bills, with one in seven (15%) experiencing ‘severe’ financial problems.
Among parents who reported they were experiencing some difficulties, a third (32%) said their child had gone without new clothes or shoes when they needed them, while three in 10 (30%) said their child had not always eaten as nutritiously as they would have liked. One in seven (14%) said their child had not always eaten three meals a day.
When asked how their work and health situation had affected their own emotional wellbeing in the past month, half (50%) of parents receiving incapacity benefits felt worried or anxious about meeting bills or costs, while nearly half (48%) of parents felt down or depressed.
Returning to work
In the survey, 38% of parents who were on incapacity benefits and not in any form of paid work, said their health or disability rules out paid work completely. However, 42% thought they could return to paid work in the future, but this was dependent on their health improving and getting better support from the Government and employers.
Among all parents on incapacity benefits, when asked what could help them to return to work in future, more than a third (36%) wanted investment in NHS mental health services, while a similar number (33%) said bringing down NHS waiting lists would help.
More than a quarter (26%) argued the public sector needed to create more flexible jobs for disabled people, and nearly a quarter (23%) called for more specialist advisers in jobcentres.
Parents taking part in the research were frequently unhappy with their interactions with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the quality of support on offer for those who wanted to explore a return to work.
What does the Government need to do?
Action for Children is calling on the Government to abandon proposals to abolish the Work Capability Assessment that would mean generalist work coaches decide what work requirements are applied to sick and disabled incapacity benefit claimants. It said the Government should invest in specialist advisors in the new Jobs and Careers Service to lead all contact with those who are out of work due to disability or ill-health.
The charity is also calling for rules on flexible working for employees with health conditions and disabilities to be strengthened.
It has also demanded the Government scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap policies, and increase the child element of Universal Credit to address the high levels of poverty and hardship in low-income families with children.
Paul Carberry, chief executive of Action for Children, said: “Trying to give your children the best start in life while managing a health condition or disability can be an incredibly difficult thing in itself. Add to that the daily battle to make ends meet on benefits that barely cover the basics and it’s clear why so many families are in such a precarious position.
“Too many parents are having negative experiences when navigating the benefits system or asking for support from the DWP. Too often this seems to fall to pot luck, depending hugely on who they happen to speak to that day.
“Parents relying on these benefits routinely face real insecurity, juggling bills and debts while their children miss out on things most would regard as necessities. Our findings show many of these parents may never be well enough to work and it’s vital they are supported to live in security and dignity.”