DLA claimants – a new assessment: The characteristics and aspirations of the Incapacity Benefit claimants who receive Disability Living Allowance
1.25 million adults of working age presently claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as well as incapacity benefits. This report looks at these men and women and assesses the scope for re-engagement with the labour market. The report draws principally on new survey data covering more than 3,600 incapacity claimants and also deploys national benefits data and evidence from in-depth follow-up interviews.
The report finds that DLA claimants share many characteristics with the wider stock of incapacity claimants, and are strongly concentrated in the same places around the country, particularly the older industrial areas of the North, Scotland and Wales. The differences between DLA claimants and other incapacity claimants tend to be one of degree, especially around health and disability. The report identifies a sub-group with aspirations to return to work and argues that, in so far as DLA functions as a top-up to incapacity benefits, a reduction in the number of incapacity claimants could be expected to lead to a reduction in the numbers claiming DLA.
July 2009 84 pages 297x210mm
ISBN 978-1-84712-582-8
(552KB)