Sick and tired: A look at the hardships and work prospects of sick and disabled parents relying on incapacity benefits

There are more than three million people in the UK receiving financial support through the benefits system due to a health condition or disability that affects their ability to work. We estimate around 800,000 of them are parents of dependent children. This report is based on a unique survey of 1,130 parents who rely on these benefits to support their families and a series of in-depth interviews.

• Families receiving incapacity benefits face financial, practical and emotional hardships. 29% of parents on incapacity benefits are falling behind on bills, including one in seven who are facing severe financial problems (15%). A third of parents facing difficulties said their child had gone without new clothes or shoes when they needed them (32%). 48% of parents have felt down or depressed in the past month and 44% worried about the government making changes to their benefits.
• The NHS, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and employers must do more to break down work barriers. Among parents who felt their health didn't rule out paid work in the future, the most common barriers were being too unwell to work or work more right now (35%); a lack of suitable or flexible jobs (23%); not getting the treatment they need from the NHS (23%); a lack of remote jobs (20%); and a fear of losing benefits if they try work (20%).
• Too many parents receiving incapacity benefits feel unsupported by the DWP: a third do not feel like staff take their circumstances into account (34%) and three in 10 have felt pressured to enter work before they are ready (30%).
• Four in 10 out-of-work parents receiving incapacity benefits think they could return to paid work in the future, but this is contingent on their health improving and getting better support from the government and employers.
• When asked about policy solutions, a third of parents agreed that bringing down NHS waiting lists could help them return to work (33%), alongside specific investment in NHS mental health services (36%). A quarter felt more specialist advisers in jobcentres could help (23%).

• Most want to work and recognise the value it brings, but need support to do so. Typically, part-time work is seen as more realistic than a return to full-time work.
• Support from the DWP is often lacking and is undermined by the ‘compliance culture’ that has proliferated within jobcentres and assessment processes.
• Parents are deeply sceptical about the willingness and capacity of employers to accommodate their health needs and the flexibility they require to sustain work.
• Financial insecurity and material deprivation are common features of family life. Relying on incapacity benefits is a frequently precarious existence.

For the full set of detailed recommendations, read the report.

1. Invest in specialist advisors in the new Jobs and Careers Service to lead contact with those who are out of work due to disability or ill-health.
2. The DWP should not proceed with plans to abolish the Work Capability Assessment which would leave decisions about work requirements up to work coach discretion.
3. Reform the conditionality and sanctions regime to end the ‘compliance culture’ in jobcentres and assessment processes.
4. Strengthen flexible working arrangements for disabled people and increase the supply of flexible and remote work opportunities.
5. Scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap and increase the child element of Universal Credit to address high rates of poverty and hardship in low-income families.