Three in 10 people living in the U.K. with a long-term health condition or disability are currently facing financial hardship amid the nation’s ongoing cost of living crisis. That’s in contrast to 11% of non-disabled adults according to research jointly undertaken by the Research Institute For Disabled Consumers and the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre.
The survey of 815 people, which asked questions about the ability of respondents to pay household bills and meet their credit commitments, further identified that 52% of disabled participants reported being unable to keep their homes warm and comfortable during the winter months and 32% had cut back on essential services like visiting the dentist.
What is particularly notable about this research is the disparities seen based on the age of participants and impairment type. Working-age disabled adults reported experiencing significantly worse financial hardship against all metrics than those of pensionable age.
Almost 40% of disabled people who became disabled later in life attested to a “constant struggle” to pay bills in contrast to just 24% who have been disabled since birth.
Here, we can see elements of the medical versus social model of disability at play. The medical model of disability views impairments solely as physiological symptoms to be treated, cured and potentially erased. In the case of long-term disabilities which are irreversible, this is not wholly possible. Therefore, many people diagnosed with a long-term medical condition later in life find themselves lost, somewhat abandoned by the system and hung out to dry.
In the social model of disability, impairments are viewed in the context of man-made barriers such as inaccessible physical infrastructure, systems and social attitudes. The core idea here is that, unlike in the medical model, because these barriers are created by society, they are fluid rather than being predetermined and can be mediated and, in some cases, alleviated by shifting social attitudes and choices.
For those born with a disability, it is likely they would have been exposed to accessible services through the education system and received the requisite specialized care such as physiotherapy, speech and language therapy as well as having appropriate social care provisions in place from a young age, thereby building into their life a degree of resilience and long-term management of their disability.
When it comes to access to specialized services, it is particularly disappointing to see that 25% of respondents reported cutting back on services that they had previously been paying for privately such as counseling and physiotherapy. This can be viewed in the context of a country whose National Health Service remains amongst the finest in the world for acute medical care and investment in expensive pharmaceutical treatments.
Sadly, funding for auxiliary services such as mental health and neurophysiotherapy remains very stretched and patients routinely face extended waiting times or miss out entirely. This is, of course, a false economy because in the longer term, a lack of access to such services significantly increases the chances of these patients ending up precisely where the government does not want to see them i.e., out of work and in the hospital.
Commenting on the new research, Professor Sharon Collard, chair in personal finance at the University of Bristol, said: “To make a real difference, major changes are required to ensure that all disabled people in the U.K. have a decent standard of living. Just as important is the need to change the public conversation about disability and disabled people in the U.K. – who make up nearly one-in-four of our total population – in order to challenge negative narratives and harmful stereotypes.”
Gordon McCullough, CEO of the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, said: ‘This report highlights the disability trap many disabled people find themselves in where the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated the extra costs associated with being disabled. We hope this report shows the importance of fully appreciating the challenges and barriers disabled people face when understanding what financial wellbeing means to them.”
Amongst the most important areas to be prioritized, the researchers are calling for improved access to employment for disabled people who are capable of work, a welfare benefits system that provides a true safety net, targeted support to reduce the costs of disability and greater access to essential services and advice.
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