Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Health and Disability Green Paper and its focus on encouraging disabled people into work, what recent assessment she has made of levels of poverty amongst disabled people who are (a) in work and (b) unable to work as a result of their disability.

Statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low-income households over time, including disabled people and people living in disabled families, are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/households-below-average-income-hbai--2

The following statistics on disabled people in absolute low-income are based on analysis of HBAI data.

The absolute low-income rate, before housing costs, among disabled working age people who were in work in 2019/20 was 11%. The latest Labour Force Survey reported that there were 4.4m disabled people in employment in the UK in Q2 2021. This is an overall increase of 1.5m since the same quarter in 2013.

The absolute low-income rate, before housing costs, among disabled working-age people who reported they were not working because they are permanently sick/disabled in 2019/20 was 28%. This is based on disabled working-age people who had not done any paid work in the prior 7 days, were not absent from work at the time of interview and who self-reported that the reason that they are not looking for work or working is that they permanently or long-term sick or disabled.

As well as receiving support through ESA or UC Health, disabled people may be eligible for Personal Independence Payment, which helps towards some of the extra costs arising from having a long-term health condition or disability. Spending on benefits for disabled people and people with long-term ill health has never been higher and is set to increase further. In 2021/22 we are forecast to spend £58 billion, £44.1 billion of which is spent on people of working age.

We are reviewing responses to the Health and Disability Green Paper and intend to publish a White Paper next year, setting out changes to the benefits system that will better meet the needs of claimants now and in the future by improving claimant experience of our services, enabling independent living and improving employment outcomes.