News

New Incapacity Benefit ignores health issues, says expert

(27 October 2008)

Dr Clare Bambra

The government’s replacement of Incapacity Benefit fails to recognise the health issues that claimants face, according to a public health expert at Durham University.

Incapacity Benefit is being replaced on Monday October 27th by ‘Employment Support Allowance’ a benefit which focuses on the ‘fitness’ of people for employment. A year ago, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Peter Hain said he intended to "tear up sick note Britain", by introducing measures to help get people off Incapacity Benefit (henceforth IB). Under the new scheme, claimants will be classed according to their employability. But Dr Clare Bambra, a lecturer in public health policy at the Wolfson Research Institute at Durham University says: “The reforms are designed to get IB claimants back to work via compulsory vocational training, but without a focus on health improvement or job creation, in areas of high IB claims it seems unlikely that these measures will improve the employment or life circumstances of individuals and families.” Under the new rules, people deemed to be sick but able to work will receive an “employment support allowance” at a basic level (and will be subject to compulsory vocational training – Pathways to Work), those judged by medics to be unable to work or with limited capacity will receive a higher level of benefit with no conditions. Clare Bambra says: “There’s a debate in government and society that’s tended to view Incapacity Benefit as exclusively an employment issue but our research shows that IB is primarily a health issue.” In their research, Dr. Bambra and Dr Paul Norman, a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Leeds, investigated the links between IB and health. They looked at area level relationships (local government districts and wards) between IB and health measures from the 2001 Census and mortality statistics. The research suggests strong links between incapacity benefit, deprivation, poor health, and increased mortality rates. According to the government, there are over 2.6 million people in receipt of Incapacity Benefit and nine out of ten new claimants say that they want to return to work. Clare Bambra says: “The vast majority of people are off work because they are genuinely sick. A vicious circle exists for many people on IB in areas where there are a high percentage of incapacity benefit claimants - this appears to be linked to poorer health facilities and job opportunities. “In particular areas, there’s a strong link between IB claimants and a higher incidence of ill health and mortality than in non-IB claimants. “In some geographic areas there are particularly high percentages of sickness claims, in Easington, County Durham, for example, 1 in 5 people are on Incapacity Benefit. “There are also significant gender differences with more males claiming Incapacity Benefit due to musculoskeletal problems, and more women claiming because of mental health issues. In Easington, County Durham, the prevalence of musculoskeletal problems in men is related to the fact that this was an area where many men worked in coal-mining.” The research also examined whether IB claims might be hiding unemployment and an estimate was inferred using census data on economic activity to explore the relationship between limiting long-term illness and those reporting themselves to be permanently sick or disabled. The results suggest that the vast majority of people unable to work are indeed sick. Clare Bambra is a Lecturer in Public Health Policy at The Wolfson Research institute, Durham University, Stockton-on-Tees. Dr Paul Norman, Lecturer in Human Geography, School of Geography, University of Leeds.