Rising levels of disability and unpaid care are concentrated in
the poorer half of Britain, and action is needed to both level up
the value of unpaid care and reduce the £3,300 income penalty
these families face, according to new Resolution Foundation
research published today (Tuesday).
Don't forget about us – the fifth report of the
Foundation's Unsung Britain project, with support from
JPMorganChase – examines how the rising prevalence of disability
and unpaid care across Britain affects family incomes, and what
can be done to boost their living standards.
The report finds that the proportion of working-age adults in the
poorer half of households who report having a disability has
increased from 19 per cent in 1995-96 to 30 per cent in 2023-24,
and is twice as prevalent compared to the richer half of
households (15 per cent).
While ageing has played a part in this increase, so too has poor
mental health among young people. The share of 16-24-year-olds in
lower-income families who have a disability has more than doubled
since the mid-1990s (from 10 to 21 per cent), with almost the
entire rise driven by poor mental health.
These trends have driven a rise in caring responsibilities.
Around one-in-ten working-age adults in lower-income families now
provide unpaid care for family members, rising to one-in-six
among women aged 55 and over.
In total, 5.6 million low-to-middle income working-age families
include a disabled person or a carer. Critically, there is
significant overlap between the two – one-in-ten (1.1 million)
low-to-middle income families in Britain today include both a
disabled member and an unpaid carer.
The report warns that disability and unpaid care carries a big
income penalty in Britain today.
People living with a disabled person and a carer are three-times
as likely to experience material deprivation as those who don't
(44 per cent vs 14 per cent). This stark gap is not solely due to
family characteristics either – even after adjusting for family
type, families including a disabled person and carer suffer a
£3,300 a year income penalty compared to those that don't (with
the penalty rising to £7,600 when disability benefits are
excluded).
Debates around how to boost disabled people's economic prospects
tend to focus on reducing economic inactivity. But while policies
aimed at getting more people into work are important, the report
finds that limited employment can prove just as big an income
barrier as unemployment.
The majority of low-to-middle income disabled people in work say
their physical health limits the work they can do, while
two-fifths of working carers say that they are unable to work as
much as they'd like.
The report also finds that one-in-three disabled people in
low-to-middle income families work in atypical forms of work like
Zero Hours Contracts and self-employment – a far higher share
compared to those without a disability. Provisions in the
Employment Rights Bill such as a right to guaranteed hours and
more notice of shift changes should therefore disproportionately
benefit disabled workers, say the authors.
More can be done to remove barriers to carers' work prospects
too, for example by getting rid of the cliff edge in Carers'
Allowance, where all support is withdrawn as soon as someone
earns over £196 a week (equivalent to 16 hours on the minimum
wage). This should be replaced by a tapering of support as
earnings rise.
The Government should also level up the value of unpaid care,
which plays a critical role for individual families and wider
society. Ministers can make a start by increasing the care
element of Universal Credit (UC) to £217 a month to match the
health element for new claimants (at a cost of £200 million), and
extending carers' leave from one to four weeks to match the level
of parental leave.
Hannah Slaughter, Senior Economist at the Resolution
Foundation, said:
“More people across the poorer half of Britain report having a
disability, which has driven a rise in unpaid care. There are now
over a million working age families in Britian that include both
a disabled person and an unpaid carer – and they are paying a
heavy financial price for these circumstances.
“More must be done to boost the living standards of disabled
people and their carers. Employers should improve their retention
of disabled staff and carers, and the Government should raise the
value of unpaid care in the benefits system and extend carers'
leave.
“The trend of rising levels of disability across Britain, and the
need for unpaid care, isn't going to end. It's time policy caught
with this reality.”
Notes to Editors
- With a legacy dating back more than 200 years, JPMorganChase
has a track record of demonstrating leadership during times of
both economic growth and financial instability. The firm employs
approximately 22,000 employees throughout the U.K. and is
committed to operating a healthy and vibrant company that plays a
leading role in advancing a sustainable and inclusive economy.
The firm provides £474 billion in credit and capital to nearly
4,500 medium and large companies and supports over two million
retail customers. At the same time, together with its non-profit
partners the firm has supported over 33,000 low income households
reduce their debt and improve their financial health, helped over
10,800 small businesses to grow their activity and placed over
9,000 individuals into apprenticeships or full and part-time
employment. The views expressed in this report should not be
taken to reflect the official position of JPMorganChase or any of
its affiliates.
