4 March 2008 –Publication of DWP research report: No 469 Routes onto Incapacity Benefit: findings from a survey of recent claimants
Research published today by the DWP provides a representative picture of the situations of people newly claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB). The research focused upon their health, employment and benefit histories, and their expectations and attitudes towards leaving benefit and returning to work.
The numbers on IB are falling for the first time in a generation. This research will help inform the delivery of the Government's welfare reform programme which aims to get 1 million people off incapacity benefit by 2015 by focusing on what people can do rather than what they can't.
The main findings are:
- Over half of recent claimants had been in work or off sick from work immediately before their claim.
- The most common health issues were depression, stress and anxiety, and musculo-skeletal conditions.
- IB claimants were twice as likely as the general population to have no academic or vocational qualifications.
- Just over two thirds of claimants who had been in work or on sick leave had discussed their condition with their employer, with two thirds of these finding their employer helpful.
- The report highlighted the lack of employer led occupational health service provision and the need for workplace modifications.
- The most common reason for the last job coming to an end among claimants who were not in work or off sick in the week prior to interview was giving up work because of their ill-health or disability.
Notes to editors
- The DWP research report: Routes onto Incapacity Benefit: Findings from a survey of recent claimants is published on 4 March 2008.
- The Routes onto Incapacity Benefit survey (ROIB), of 1843 new IB claimants, was carried out between September 2006 and January 2007. It provides for the first time a robust and nationally representative picture of the situations of people newly claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB), including their health, employment and benefit histories, and their expectations and attitudes towards leaving benefit and returning to work.
- This is a snapshot of a particular cohort of IB claimants and further work is being carried out to ensure that we fully understand the differences between figures here and those available from other sources. As such, the differences should not be seen as evidence of change.
- The analysis was undertaken by the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford, and the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, and the interviews were carried out by Ipsos-MORI. The report’s authors are Peter Kemp and Jacqueline Davidson.
- This report follows on from a previous qualitative study carried out by the Social Policy Research Unit, which explored the life histories of recipients prior to making a claim (DWP Research Report no. 350). The summary is available at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/summ2005-2006/350summ.pdf and the full report can be accessed at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep350.pdf.
- A follow-up telephone survey took place between July and October 2007. This will provide information about any changes in health, benefit and work status since the initial interview, and will examine the factors associated with return to work. The follow-up research should be ready for publication by summer 2008.
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