Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 20(2), June 2012, pp.191-206.
Publisher:
Policy Press
In the United Kingdom, there are two alternative social security benefits for older people with disabilities. The UK Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a non-means-tested cash benefit claimable only before age 65, although receipt can continue beyond 65. The similar Attendance Allowance (AA) can be claimed only from age 65 and in some cases is worth less than DLA. DLA is being replaced
In the United Kingdom, there are two alternative social security benefits for older people with disabilities. The UK Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a non-means-tested cash benefit claimable only before age 65, although receipt can continue beyond 65. The similar Attendance Allowance (AA) can be claimed only from age 65 and in some cases is worth less than DLA. DLA is being replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which, like DLA, will have advantages over AA. These advantages are sometimes justified on grounds that DLA recipients have longer histories of disability and consequently lower incomes. In this study, data were drawn from the UK Family Resource Survey, and included 32,384 people aged 65 and over, and 93,260 aged 30 to 64. The authors concluded that any reform of the disability benefit system for older people which is less favourable towards people who are first entitled to a disability benefit after reaching 65 is not based on evidence.
Subject terms:
low income, older people, disability living allowance, disabilities;
Disabled people face higher costs of living than do non-disabled people. These additional costs include the cost of adapting the home, overcoming the difficulties of getting about, and acquiring assistance with everyday tasks that non-disabled people can do unaided. This study estimated the implicit disability costs faced by older people, using data on over 8,000 individuals from the UK Family Resources Survey. It extended previous research by using a more flexible statistical modelling approach and by allowing for measurement error in observed disability and standard of living indicators. The study found that disability costs were strongly related to the severity of disability and to income, and at an average level of almost £100 per week among over-65s with significant disability they typically far exceed the value of any state disability benefits received.
Disabled people face higher costs of living than do non-disabled people. These additional costs include the cost of adapting the home, overcoming the difficulties of getting about, and acquiring assistance with everyday tasks that non-disabled people can do unaided. This study estimated the implicit disability costs faced by older people, using data on over 8,000 individuals from the UK Family Resources Survey. It extended previous research by using a more flexible statistical modelling approach and by allowing for measurement error in observed disability and standard of living indicators. The study found that disability costs were strongly related to the severity of disability and to income, and at an average level of almost £100 per week among over-65s with significant disability they typically far exceed the value of any state disability benefits received.
Subject terms:
older people, poverty, standard of living, disability living allowance, disabilities;
This report, on potential differences in the economic circumstances of older claimants in England of Attendance Allowance (AA, non-means tested cash benefit claimable over-65) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA, non-means tested cash benefit claimable only under 65 but receipt of which can be continued after 65), is from the Institute for Social and Economic Research Working Papers series. It consists of a non-technical summary, introduction, and sections detailing ‘Family Resources Survey’ data between 2002 and 2005, ‘DLA and work histories in the working age population’, ‘the composition of the over-65 population’, and work histories, and incomes of AA and DLA recipients in the older population. “No evidence of greater income deprivation among DLA than AA recipients in terms of equivalised pre-benefit family income” was found. The governments’ perception of greater income deprivation among DLA compared with AA claimants, due to their earlier age of onset of disability and thus impaired earnings in earlier life, which had led to recent benefit reform proposals which would treat “recipients of AA less favourably than the recipients of DLA” is questioned, as is the validity of the proposed changes. Both AA and DLA claimant groups had substantially lower levels of average pre-benefit income than the older population in general.
This report, on potential differences in the economic circumstances of older claimants in England of Attendance Allowance (AA, non-means tested cash benefit claimable over-65) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA, non-means tested cash benefit claimable only under 65 but receipt of which can be continued after 65), is from the Institute for Social and Economic Research Working Papers series. It consists of a non-technical summary, introduction, and sections detailing ‘Family Resources Survey’ data between 2002 and 2005, ‘DLA and work histories in the working age population’, ‘the composition of the over-65 population’, and work histories, and incomes of AA and DLA recipients in the older population. “No evidence of greater income deprivation among DLA than AA recipients in terms of equivalised pre-benefit family income” was found. The governments’ perception of greater income deprivation among DLA compared with AA claimants, due to their earlier age of onset of disability and thus impaired earnings in earlier life, which had led to recent benefit reform proposals which would treat “recipients of AA less favourably than the recipients of DLA” is questioned, as is the validity of the proposed changes. Both AA and DLA claimant groups had substantially lower levels of average pre-benefit income than the older population in general.
Subject terms:
older people, socioeconomic groups, attendance allowance, disability living allowance, disabilities;
In England, state support for older people with disabilities consists of a national system of non-means-tested cash disability benefits and a locally administered means-tested system of social care. Evidence on how the combination of the two systems targets those in most need is lacking. This study estimates a latent factor structural equation model of disability and receipt of one or both forms
(Edited publisher abstract)
In England, state support for older people with disabilities consists of a national system of non-means-tested cash disability benefits and a locally administered means-tested system of social care. Evidence on how the combination of the two systems targets those in most need is lacking. This study estimates a latent factor structural equation model of disability and receipt of one or both forms of support. The model integrates the measurement of disability and its influence on receipt of state support, allowing for the socio-economic gradient in disability, and adopts income and wealth constructs appropriate to each part of the model. This paper finds that receipt of each form of support rises as disability increases, with a strong concentration on the most disabled, especially for local-authority-funded care. The overlap between the two programmes is confined to the most disabled. Less than half of recipients of local-authority-funded care also receive a disability benefit; a third of those in the top 10 per cent of the disability distribution receive neither form of support. Despite being non-means-tested, disability benefits display a degree of income and wealth targeting, as a consequence of the socio-economic gradient in disability and likely disability benefit claims behaviour. The scope for improving income/wealth targeting of disability benefits by means testing them, as some have suggested, is thus less than might be expected.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
older people, disabilities, longitudinal studies, ageing, benefits, social care, efficiency;
The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non-means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 + . They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). The authors investigate proposed reforms involving withdrawal of AA/DLA. Despite their present non-means-tested nature, they show that withdrawal would affect mainly low-income people, whose losses could be mitigated if SDP were retained at its current or a higher level. The authors also show the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients' capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.
(Publisher abstract)
The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non-means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 + . They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). The authors investigate proposed reforms involving withdrawal of AA/DLA. Despite their present non-means-tested nature, they show that withdrawal would affect mainly low-income people, whose losses could be mitigated if SDP were retained at its current or a higher level. The authors also show the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients' capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.
(Publisher abstract)
University of Essex. Institute for Social and Economic Research
Publication year:
2010
Pagination:
26p., bibliog.
Place of publication:
Colchester
The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 and over. They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). This report investigates proposed reforms involving the withdrawal of AA and DLA. It uses data from the Family Resources Survey to simulate the losses which current AA and DLA recipients would incur if AA and DLA were curtailed. It also considers the extent to which these losses could be mitigated if the SDP were to be retained or increased. It examines how average losses vary across the income distribution using different definitions of income and investigates the impact of potential reforms on the proportion of older people with incomes below various thresholds. The report finds that the abolition of AA and DLA would have a large impact on the poorer parts of the older population. Retaining or increasing the SDP within means-tested benefits could mitigate these losses to some extent. The report also shows the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients’ capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.
The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 and over. They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). This report investigates proposed reforms involving the withdrawal of AA and DLA. It uses data from the Family Resources Survey to simulate the losses which current AA and DLA recipients would incur if AA and DLA were curtailed. It also considers the extent to which these losses could be mitigated if the SDP were to be retained or increased. It examines how average losses vary across the income distribution using different definitions of income and investigates the impact of potential reforms on the proportion of older people with incomes below various thresholds. The report finds that the abolition of AA and DLA would have a large impact on the poorer parts of the older population. Retaining or increasing the SDP within means-tested benefits could mitigate these losses to some extent. The report also shows the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients’ capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.
This report explores the relationship between disability and poverty among the older population. It provides an overview of the current system of disability support for older people which involves both nationally-administered disability benefits of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance, and local systems of social care provision. It then looks at measuring poverty, emphasising the additional living costs that disabled people face, and the importance of taking disability costs into account when making assessments. The report considers three scenarios for the system of public support within the existing level of government spending which involve changes to levels of mean-testing and reach of support. It casts doubt on some of the suggestions that have been made for improving the targeting of public support for older disabled people. The report concludes that: effective targeting does not necessarily require an extension of means-testing; the present benefit and social care system is reasonably well-targeted, but falls far short of full support for the most severely disabled; there is a case for tailoring the structure of disability benefits more closely to the severity of disability; and there is a need for caution in considering proposals that would scrap national disability benefits in favour of an expansion of local authority social care funding.
(Edited publisher abstract)
This report explores the relationship between disability and poverty among the older population. It provides an overview of the current system of disability support for older people which involves both nationally-administered disability benefits of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance, and local systems of social care provision. It then looks at measuring poverty, emphasising the additional living costs that disabled people face, and the importance of taking disability costs into account when making assessments. The report considers three scenarios for the system of public support within the existing level of government spending which involve changes to levels of mean-testing and reach of support. It casts doubt on some of the suggestions that have been made for improving the targeting of public support for older disabled people. The report concludes that: effective targeting does not necessarily require an extension of means-testing; the present benefit and social care system is reasonably well-targeted, but falls far short of full support for the most severely disabled; there is a case for tailoring the structure of disability benefits more closely to the severity of disability; and there is a need for caution in considering proposals that would scrap national disability benefits in favour of an expansion of local authority social care funding.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
older people, disabilities, poverty, standard of living, cost of living, social care provision, eligibility criteria, disability living allowance, attendance allowance, benefits;
University of Essex. Institute for Social and Economic Research
Publication year:
2009
Pagination:
40p., bibliog.
Place of publication:
Colchester
In the UK, state support for older people with disabilities comes in two forms: means tested help with the costs of specific care services arranged by local authorities and non-means tested cash benefits, which include the system of Attendance Allowance (AA). This study examines the workings of the AA system with the aim of understanding better the problems of targeting raised by the failure
In the UK, state support for older people with disabilities comes in two forms: means tested help with the costs of specific care services arranged by local authorities and non-means tested cash benefits, which include the system of Attendance Allowance (AA). This study examines the workings of the AA system with the aim of understanding better the problems of targeting raised by the failure of some disabled pensioners to bring forward potentially successful AA claims. The empirical analysis combines household-level survey data on family circumstances, disability and receipt of AA with aggregate administrative data on the average success rate for AA claims, to analyse the factors influencing individuals' probabilities of claiming and their chances of success. There are two main findings: the probability of an individual pensioner making a claim for AA appears to rise strongly with his or her degree of disability, irrespective of personal and household circumstances. Second, there is evidence of a substantial volume (possibly 30% or more of the over-65 household population) of unpursued but potentially successful AA claims.
Subject terms:
older people, service uptake, stereotyped attitudes, statistical methods, attendance allowance, benefits, disability living allowance, disabilities;