For disabled people, the welfare state no longer functions as a safety net at all

Disquiet about the impacts of welfare reform on disabled people has been mounting for some time. Regularly we see reports that describe the “untenable human costs” of welfare reform, and the subsequent “grave and systematic” violations of the rights of disabled people. Despite these flurries of reporting and public outcry, however, it is perhaps easy to forget the cumulative impact welfare reform has had on Britain’s disabled.

Within this context, myself and colleagues at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research were commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission…