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Disability & the Welfare Reform Bill: a woman’s story

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Jane Osmond
WVoN co-editor

Nancy, who suffers from anxiety-based depression, has been unable to work for nearly ten years because of her condition.

She is one of many women who suffer from depressive-type illnesses.

Figures provided by the Mental Health Foundation in the UK show that women are more likely to be treated for a mental health problem than men (29% compared to 17%); depression is more common in women than men (one in four against one in 10); and women are twice as likely to experience anxiety.

Last Wednesday, however, Nancy overcame her anxiety – often she can’t leave the house for long periods – to attend a demonstration in London, organised by DPAC (Disabled People Against the Cuts), to protest against the introduction of the recent Welfare Reform Bill.

Asked why she participated in the protest, Nancy said:

‘Because of the Bill, I am expecting to be put on the new Employment Support Allowance (ESA) scheme which will mean if I don’t find a job in a year, I will be moved to Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA) which is less money.

‘Once on JSA, if I still don’t get a job, I am afraid all my benefits will stop – including housing benefit – and I will end up homeless.’

Her worry about not getting a job is a legitimate one as far as Nancy is concerned.  As she points out, even filling in an application form will be problematic as she has a ten-year career gap to explain, but more than this, she is worried about the overall job shortage:

‘The changes are happening too fast and being rushed through without enough thought.

‘There are not enough jobs for people without disabilities, and this, coupled with a lack of money for workplace modifications means that I, and other disabled people, have little chance of getting a job.

‘That isn’t to say that disabled people shouldn’t work if they can: but society is not ready.’

All this worry has had a negative effect on Nancy’s condition: her medication has recently been increased by her doctor who recognises that this added stress is not helping her.

‘Every time I go to my doctor, he asks me if I am still worrying about the situation, and I tell him yes, of course.  He finds it difficult to know what to say to me – it seems that doctors’ opinions on people’s medical conditions are being ignored completely.

‘The ATOS assessment test which decides if you are fit to work is a tick-box form on a computer, often implemented by people who may not have the relevant expertise in my type of condition.’

Nancy’s worry is well founded, as evidenced by the recent resignation of Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of mental health charity MIND. He felt that the government was not listening to concerns about a flawed test that was assessing 11,000 people a week.

As it stands, the test results are routinely challenged by 50% of those taking it, and of those, 40% of appeals are upheld.  However, even when an appeal is successful, people are apparently being put through the test again, told they are fit to work and have to re-appeal.

But not only is it stressful for claimants, it is also costing a lot of money.  According to the Guardian newspaper, the government is paying ATOS £100m to carry out the test, but the appeals are costing around £50m a year,  with tribunal courts having to open on a Saturday and increase staffing levels by 30%.

As the government does not appear to be listening, Jaspa Dhani, chief executive of the UK Disabled People’s Council has made clear that legal action is now being contemplated.

It almost seems that the government, in its zeal to save money, is calling the disability lobby’s bluff, and I am beginning to feel that only those who shout the loudest – disabled or not – have any chance of stopping them from enforcing a benefit regime that has the potential to result in people’s deaths.

There is a growing clamour about the fact that some people have suffered fatal heart attacks or committed suicide as a result of the test, such as this heart breaking letter written by the National Protest Against Benefit Cuts, signed by doctors, nurses, protest groups and individuals.

Further, it is quite possible that women may not be equipped to shout at all, let alone loudly, which is why Nancy is to be applauded for having the courage to get to the protest, bolstered by an extra dose of antidepressant tablets and Valium.

This allowed her to cope with some of the negative comments directed at her during the protest:

‘Several people asked the police why they couldn’t stop us blocking the road and I had a man saying ‘people are walking round so they obviously aren’t disabled’.

‘People don’t understand, wider society just doesn’t understand what disability means, they think ‘disabled’ is a wheelchair and that is it.

‘That is why the Bill went through so easily because people aren’t aware how many people are disabled, what disability means and the impact it will have if the government stop our benefits.’

Nancy points out that her travel payment was funded by donations, so, if you can, please donate here.  Also please sign this petition: it is currently at 36,000 signatures and needs 100,000 to have a hope of instigating a debate about the Bill’s impact in the House of Commons.

As the petition points out:

‘Illness or disability could affect any one of us at any time, while many more of us are potential carers.’

Exactly.

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