What do disability rights experts make of government plans to boost employment?

Britain needs more workers, both to fill the gaps left by Brexit and the pandemic and the exodus of people who’ve decided employment is no longer working for them and called it quits post-2020.

There are half a million more people out of work due to long-term sickness than before the pandemic – 2.5 million in total.

Nearly half of people with a disability are not in work, compared to 18 per cent of non-disabled people. While there were under 600,000 people claiming disability benefits in the early 1990s, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, there are roughly 2.2 million today, largely driven by mental health conditions.

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Labour government will push for jobs for ‘not fit for work’ group, says Ashworth

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary has attacked the “totally unacceptable” number of disabled people who return to work after being found not fit for work by the government’s assessment system.

In a major policy speech, Jonathan Ashworth (pictured) said that only one in 25 of those in the support group of employment and support allowance (ESA) return to work every year, which was “a monumental waste of the talents of the British people”.

But he also appeared to blame those in the ESA support group for this “huge economic cost” which “undermines economic growth” and “leaves the taxpayer with an increased health-related benefit bill”.

This echoes comments made by Conservative and Labour politicians that repeatedly scapegoated disabled claimants for the country’s economic problems in the post-2010 austerity years.

There was no mention by Ashworth of the links between back-to-work pressure placed on disabled people by DWP over the last decade and the deaths of disabled claimants.

And he also failed to mention in his speech the years of calls by disabled activists, families and allies for an independent inquiry into deaths linked to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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Mothers With Disabilities Less Likely to Start Breastfeeding

Mothers with intellectual or developmental disabilities are less likely to initiate breastfeeding and to receive in-hospital breastfeeding support than those without a disability, new data suggest.

In a population-based cohort study of more than 600,000 mothers, patients with an intellectual or developmental disability were about 18% less likely to have a chance to initiate breastfeeding during their hospital stay.

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Disabled Littleover man 'literally begging' for carers as he can't pay them enough

A severely disabled man from Derby says he is "literally begging" for carers to look after him after the council refused to increase his care payment package. Imraan Adam, 35, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, has been calling on Derby City Council for more financial help so he can maintain the levels of care he needs 24/7. He currently receives £96,600 per year.

But the Littleover resident says he feels “abandoned” and “neglected” by the authority who has told him it cannot increase his current care package any further. He fears he will one day have no carers left and is now turning to his old carers for urgent help.

Mr Adam receives disability funding of £7,600 every four weeks from Derby City Council - but he says this has not changed in six years. The money is used to help pay for his carers and support him.

Mr Adam says no increase in council funding has led to the number of carers looking after him plummeting from nine to three in recent years. This means that his current carers are having to work above and beyond their contracted hours to make sure he gets the care he needs. This doesn’t take into account inflation rises and the cost of living crisis.

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