Reports that the government is considering removing the universal credit health element for disabled people under 25 will be alarming for families (Key disability benefit for young people may be axed under major welfare changes, 1 October). For many, it raises serious concerns about how they will keep disabled young people supported and able to participate in everyday life.
At Contact, we hear from families worried about universal credit and its impact on disabled family members. Some receiving the health element are studying, working part-time or volunteering; others have disabilities so significant that paid employment is impossible.
We recently joined more than 40 charities urging ministers not to take financial support away from disabled young people. We share the government’s ambition for young people to work and thrive, but we do not believe removing financial security will create those opportunities. Ministers have said that those with the most severe disabilities will be protected. But worried families still don’t know what criteria would apply or how hard it would be to prove eligibility.
Crucially, receiving the health element of universal credit does not mean a young person is not in education, employment or training (Neet). Before making such a fundamental change, ministers must publish the evidence. How many young people receiving the health element are actually Neet? And among those who are, how many cannot participate because of their disability or health condition?
Disabled young people need opportunity and security. One cannot safely be traded for the other.
Anna Bird
CEO, Contact
This proposal to cut support for disabled young people rather than provide equal access to welfare sends a message to them that they matter less to society. Far from improving their independence or opportunities for work, such cuts would harm their health and push more people into poverty. It is careless to assume that employment support could fill the gap.
Disability does not discriminate based on age; nor should the welfare system. A wheelchair, specialist equipment, transport or social care still costs the same whether you are 20 or 60. Young disabled people deserve a social security system that respects their human rights and dignity equally.
Rick Burgess
Chair, Amnesty International UK’s Disabled People’s Human Rights Network
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