'MPs and the Media Cast Benefit-Claimants as Freeloaders - This Discrimination Is What Keeps Them Out of Work'
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The past week has been a big one for disability-blaming. Forget migrants (for a moment), disabilities are now apparently the reason our economy and public services aren't working.
'Benefits Pay More Than Being In Work', said Thursday's Telegraph front page, furious that the sickest, or most disabled Brits, may receive more from the state than if they worked a minimum wage job.
The paper did not mention that being disabled can cost more than minimum wage. Nor did they speak to a single disabled person. But they were in good company. The Daily Mail front page declared: 'Proof Work Doesn't Pay Under Labour'.
Worth Reduced to Work: A Disabled Person's Experience of the Welfare Cuts Debacle
Penny Pepper explores the impact of the watered-down Welfare Bill and questions the very notion of 'work' as a marker of human value
Penny Pepper
Despite these alarming declarations, in the UK and US, welfare is taking a beating, and the primary targets are those in need of health welfare.
Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' slashed MedicAid for 12-16 million Americans, while the UK moved to save billions on health-related benefits. Labour promised its Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment (PIP) Bill would "promote work and address perverse incentives". But it was forecast to push 250,000 people into poverty. Not jobs.
Brits are often told welfare is the biggest burden on our budget, yet we are rarely informed that we spend less on benefits than almost every other European nation. Comparing welfare spending as a share of GDP, the UK is right at the bottom of the pile, ranking 25th out of 28 European countries. We spend half what France, Scandinavia, Italy, Austria, Germany and Belgium do, falling just below Croatia, Romania and Hungary in the listings.
Both our front pages and frontbenchers are telling us a story. A narrative that comforts the well-off by casting benefit-claimants as freeloaders, letting privileged people off the hook. But let's assess the evidence. Because like most powerful lies, it has some grounding in reality.
The rationale is rooted in legitimate questions arising from a steady uptick in both health-related benefit spending and health-related non-employment.
Non-Disabled People's Delusions That Disability 'Is Nothing To Do With Them' Only Harm Disabled People
As Government cuts to disabled people's benefits lead to more dehumanising rhetoric, Penny Pepper reminds us that disability is an embedded reality of human experience as much as it always has been
Penny Pepper
Labour is targeting sickness and disability benefits because both have ballooned in recent years, largely due to a post-COVID spike in mostly mental health and obesity-related claims. But instead of reigning in spending by addressing the issues
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
The past week has been a big one for disability-blaming. Forget migrants (for a moment), disabilities are now apparently the reason our economy and public services aren't working.
'Benefits Pay More Than Being In Work', said Thursday's Telegraph front page, furious that the sickest, or most disabled Brits, may receive more from the state than if they worked a minimum wage job.
The paper did not mention that being disabled can cost more than minimum wage. Nor did they speak to a single disabled person. But they were in good company. The Daily Mail front page declared: 'Proof Work Doesn't Pay Under Labour'.
Worth Reduced to Work: A Disabled Person's Experience of the Welfare Cuts Debacle
Penny Pepper explores the impact of the watered-down Welfare Bill and questions the very notion of 'work' as a marker of human value
Penny Pepper
Despite these alarming declarations, in the UK and US, welfare is taking a beating, and the primary targets are those in need of health welfare.
Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' slashed MedicAid for 12-16 million Americans, while the UK moved to save billions on health-related benefits. Labour promised its Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment (PIP) Bill would "promote work and address perverse incentives". But it was forecast to push 250,000 people into poverty. Not jobs.
Brits are often told welfare is the biggest burden on our budget, yet we are rarely informed that we spend less on benefits than almost every other European nation. Comparing welfare spending as a share of GDP, the UK is right at the bottom of the pile, ranking 25th out of 28 European countries. We spend half what France, Scandinavia, Italy, Austria, Germany and Belgium do, falling just below Croatia, Romania and Hungary in the listings.
Both our front pages and frontbenchers are telling us a story. A narrative that comforts the well-off by casting benefit-claimants as freeloaders, letting privileged people off the hook. But let's assess the evidence. Because like most powerful lies, it has some grounding in reality.
The rationale is rooted in legitimate questions arising from a steady uptick in both health-related benefit spending and health-related non-employment.
Non-Disabled People's Delusions That Disability 'Is Nothing To Do With Them' Only Harm Disabled People
As Government cuts to disabled people's benefits lead to more dehumanising rhetoric, Penny Pepper reminds us that disability is an embedded reality of human experience as much as it always has been
Penny Pepper
Labour is targeting sickness and disability benefits because both have ballooned in recent years, largely due to a post-COVID spike in mostly mental health and obesity-related claims. But instead of reigning in spending by addressing the issues
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