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Employability trajectories among new claimants of Incapacity Benefit
- Authors:
- KEMP Peter A., DAVIDSON Jacqueline
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 31(2), March 2010, pp.203-221.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Incapacity Benefits (IB) were replaced in October 2008 with the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). This was done on the assumption that it would be a temporary benefit for the majority of people who claim it. After an initial medical assessment, new ESA claimants are allocated to one of two groups: those who have less severe or temporary conditions are allocated to the work related Activity Group, and are required to take active steps to prepare for a return to employment; and those considered to be severely disabled are allocated to the Support Group and are not expected to undertake work-related activities. This article examines the implications of the distinction between those claimants who potentially could do paid work and those for whom that outcome is much less likely. The authors, drawing upon baseline and follow-up surveys, examine the employment status trajectories of 1,843 new IB claimants in the year following their claim. The article examines three specific questions: who returns to work and what factors are associated with that outcome; how employable are the people who do not return to work and does their employability change during the first year of their claim; and among those who remained on IB after a year, what distinguishes people who classify themselves as permanently unable to work from those who do not? The article concludes with a discussion of the main findings, notably that location was a major factor in finding employment, and their implications for policy.
What is the problem, exactly? The distribution of Incapacity Benefit claimants' conditions across British regions
- Author:
- ANYADIKE-DANES Michael
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 31(2), March 2010, pp.187-202.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Whilst there are notable differences in the spatial distribution of those claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB) in Great Britain, where the percentage of claimants to population is two to three times higher in the North than it is in the South, there are also marked regional differences in the relative importance of the medical conditions from which IB claimants suffer. For example, about one third of males in the South are unable to work due to mental and behavioural disorders, but the proportion in the North is under a quarter. The converse is true of diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. As the roll-out of Pathways to Work gathers pace with its offer of a condition management programme to claimants, and the new regime for those unable to work due to sickness is introduced, those charged with planning and managing the re-activation of benefit claimants need to have a more spatially informed understanding of the dimensions of the problem they are to address. This paper seeks to address this information gap by examining the regional distribution of conditions and its connection to the regional distribution of claimant numbers, as applicable for both men and women.