Women on Incapacity Benefits
Women on Incapacity Benefits is a new report which was launched at an event in Sheffield 12 January 2010.
The workshop for policy makers and practitioners drew on the findings from this new report to consider
Why do so many women claim incapacity benefits? And what can be done to help bring the numbers down?
Some 1.1 million women of working age claim incapacity benefits. This is more than the number of women who are lone parents on Income Support. It is also far more than the number of unemployed women on Jobseeker's Allowance, even during the depths of recession.
Incapacity claimants used to be characterised as predominantly male, but the number of women on IB have been rising, and among the under-60s now almost equal the numbers of men. The underlying causes, and what might be done to bring the numbers down again, are not well understood.
Over the last three years, the government's Economic and Social Research Council and eight local partners have funded Sheffield Hallam and Dundee Universities to carry out the largest-ever study of woman on IB - some £500,000 of new research in all. The Department for Work and Pensions provided practical support.
The workshop
- documented the scale of the problem - nationally, regionally and locally
- presented the findings of the new research
- examined the national and local policy implications
- explored the practical lessons for projects and initiatives dealing with incapacity claimants
- provided an opportunity to pool knowledge and experience from around the country
For further information on this research, contact CRESR
