Extract from Work and Pensions Committee report on The Benefits Cap - Mar 12

Poor health

25.Claimants on ESA have been assessed by the Department as having limited capability for work due to injury, sickness or disability. Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) told us that, for this reason, many ESA claimants it had helped were “incapable of escaping the cap by immediately moving into work.”35 Giovanni Tonutti explained that Policy and Practice’s analysis of the employment impact of the cap found that, of the groups that did not move into work, there was a disproportionate representation of single people on ESA. He said this suggests that being on ESA presents an “even greater barrier than childcare” to moving into work.36 Sam Lister also told us that many people in the ESA group have mental health problems, and that the increased stress of the cap can push them further away from work.37 Many disabled people also face discrimination when looking for work. In 2017 the Shaw Trust found that over half (56%) of the employers it surveyed said they were reluctant to employ someone with a mental health condition, due to fear of them being stigmatized by their co-workers,38 and a study by Scope found that nearly half of disabled people (48%) have worried about sharing information about their impairment or condition with an employer.39

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