Adults ‘more likely to become disabled if they are already living on low incomes’

Using data from a major national survey of 10,000 adults interviewed each year, it shows that a disproportionate number of people who become disabled come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

On average, two per cent of adults under state pension age become disabled each year. Of these, 15 per cent are disabled following an accident; 44 per cent because of a sudden health problem; and 41 per cent as a result of an existing health problem growing worse or other reasons. But the study also shows that:

• Adults whose incomes place them in the poorest fifth of the population are two and a half times more likely to become disabled in any one year than those in the top fifth.
• People with lower educational qualifications are more likely to become disabled than those with higher qualifications. (This difference holds true for any age group between 16 and 64.)
• The risk of disability is greater for those adults who are out of work or in low status jobs, such as machine and plant operators, sales, or ‘personal and protective services’ (a category that includes security, catering, healthcare and childcare staff). 

Tania Burchardt of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics found that because the incomes of many adults who become disabled are already low, the resulting decline in income is relatively small – an average loss of £13 a week per household. However, people whose health deteriorated suddenly and unexpectedly experienced a larger fall in household income over the period of a year than those whose impairment developed gradually. Couples were better protected against falls in income than single people, and single adults who were previously working stood to lose the most.

A quarter of individuals who became disabled were already living in households whose net incomes placed them below the poverty line. By contrast, only one in six households unaffected by onset of disability were poor, using a standard, official definition. But although the household incomes of most people who became disabled stayed above the poverty line, 14 per cent fell below it immediately following onset of disability. This was double the rate of movement into poverty for households that were unaffected by disability.

The study also showed how disability affected the working lives and incomes of other family members. One in ten partners of people who became disabled reported taking on caring responsibilities as a consequence, and – in some cases – giving up their own job.

Tania Burchardt said: “At present the Government's New Deal policies are focused on getting disabled people into work. Less attention is paid to helping people to keep their jobs when they become disabled – or to preventing health conditions and accidents that cause disability in the first place.

“This study demonstrates an urgent need for new policy initiatives to target the links between disability and social disadvantage. They include action to reduce health inequalities and to direct more resources to enabling disabled people to stay in work. The research also underlines the value of offering greater support to partners and other carers, through improved benefits.”