The future of welfare for the disabled may depend on the election

The election in May will have a major impact on the future of the welfare budget. No group of vulnerable people may have more at risk than the disabled. They are threatened with up to £1.5bn in cuts per year in the Incapacity Benefit. The proposal, if put into place, may lead to more of these individuals falling into poverty.

The Conservative Party has widely shared their plan to reduce welfare by up to £12bn. Looking at the details of some of what may occur, it has been discovered that some of the largest cuts will be for the disabled across the UK. The economic projections from the manifesto that has been released show that the group of people most impacted will be those with a disability, such as the Incapacity Benefit. Many of these individuals live on a low income and depend on welfare to help them make ends meet.

The government would like to reduce the amount of payments made to them as they want to get the disabled back to work. The Conservative Party says that because the benefits are so easy to get, and the amount of money provided is so great, that it discourages people, including the disabled, to find a job. The party say that a reduction in this safety net will save the central government a substantial amount of money over the years.

Experts state that cutting the assistance will not lead to more of them working. They use data supplied by the government from over the past few years to support this claim. One stat shows that 2.5 million people are now on some form of benefits such as income support. This is from the Department for Work and Pensions. While 2.5 million is down from before the economic crisis, it is still a large number.

However a few years ago the DWP said this number would be 2.1 million in 2015. So this means that the government said up to 400,000 fewer people would no longer be on benefits if their plans were implemented. So many experts say that this shows the government plans are not working when it comes to addressing unemployment.

One government service used to help tackle unemployment, the Work Programme, only lead to 12 per cent of people getting a job. So this DWP service has not worked that effectively. Those that are part of that work programme, but also on a disability benefit, have only had a 5 per cent rate in finding a job. So the Conservative Job Programme has not been working for really anyone besides some of the youth in the UK. It has been least effective for the disabled.

Also, those that have found jobs tend to now have low wages at their position. The money they are bring into their home is still causing them to struggle and keep up with their basic living expenses. The most recent statistics show that of those who were placed into a position, almost 50% had a wage that was at the minimum only. This means the positions were low paying.

The upcoming election will have a major impact on welfare in general. But the Incapacity Benefit is one that may be most exposed to cutbacks.