Fit for Work? Representations and Explanations of the Disability Benefits ‘Crisis’ in the UK and Beyond

Abstract

At the start of 2012, more than two and a half million people of working age were out of work and claiming disability benefits in the UK (see Box 1.1). Since 1979 the numbers on these benefits have more than trebled. Successive governments have argued that the large numbers of people spending long periods on disability benefits represents a social and economic crisis. Beyond the fiscal pressures placed on welfare budgets (which have become particularly acute in the context of recurring recession and public spending deficits), there is evidence that long periods spent on these benefits can further undermine individuals’ health (Brown et al., 2009), increase the risk of poverty (Kemp and Davidson, 2010) and feed into ‘risky behaviours’ (Waddell et al., 2007). From an economic perspective, it is argued that high levels of working age inactivity represent a waste of human capital, as skills and labour are haemorrhaged from the productive economy (Beatty et al., 2010). Finally, population ageing and pressures on pension schemes mean that, in the long term, there will be a need to keep older people working, and working for longer, with the ‘active management’ of health conditions bound to be a key element of any policy solution (Loretto et al., 2007).