A quarter of Britons now disabled
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/a-quarter-of-britons-now-disabled-jhjzwcvbs
Posted by LoquaciousLord1066
A quarter of Britons now disabled
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/a-quarter-of-britons-now-disabled-jhjzwcvbs
Posted by LoquaciousLord1066
32 Comments
“A quarter of Britons are now disabled, with two million more people than before the pandemic saying they struggle to function because of poor mental health.”
And rising by the day.
If a quarter of people are disabled, the problem will be the definition of disabled.
There is something fundamentally wrong with us if that number of people can’t function due to mental health issues.
Is it that we’ve gone soft and these people need a kick up the arse? Maybe.
Or have we created a shit society that is actively causing harm to people? Could be the overuse of social media or is that just a red herring.
All we can know for certain is that this, like everything else, is definitely NOT the fault of Boomers, the most pampered generation ever, pulling up the ladder, and shafting everyone around them.
This neverending sea of anti poor/disabled propaganda is so transparent. Everyone in the country is angry at this point and they’re desperate to blame the worst off people for it like we’re all fucking stupid.
The definition of “disabled” needs to be reviewed.
I have been a type 1 diabetic since 1987 and by the current definition, I am disabled. Trust me, I am not disabled.
You get more of what you subsidise. You get less of what you tax.
Another headline designed to wind up stupid people. Nothing to see here but folk willingly being rage baited into their daily hate-wank.
The government set the parameters for what is disabled. Technically I am from two different conditions (I couldn’t claim PIP) but I’m disabled by their own standards. So they set the standard and now they’re complaining too many people meet it.
The reason;
– small sample size
– likely research done during business hours where people who are disabled make up a higher proportion of people with time to take part.
I think I fall into disabled by the current definition but I don’t qualify for PIP in my current state.
I have ADHD and Fibromyalgia so I manage with medication and reviews where needed.
If I lost access to my medication for Fibromyalgia I would be absolutely fucked, but as long as I keep on top of it I can do normal stuff, I just accept that I’ve got some small limitations.
Just because some is classed as disabled, it doesn’t mean that they get benefits like PIP. They still have to work for almost all of their income.
This figure includes the retired.
The UK has an aging demographic and around half of those registered disabled are over 65.
The replies to this thread are the epitome of victim blaming.
And yes some people are dishonest and abuse systems. In fact if you think about it, its abled bodied/minded people who are the real issue here….
This is not a negative thing like a lot on this thread are assuming, it is the result of improvements in medicine in health care, instead of dying of things people are now surviving but with long term disabilities.
Babies born with complications now survive, diesel that were once a death sentence no longer, chances of serving an accident have increased and combined with an aging population is the reason for an increase in disabled people.
What proportion of this “quarter” is people post retirement age?
I think part of our problem is that, medically, we can keep people alive for years longer, but we can’t keep them healthy for years longer.
And the dehumanising of the disabled continues.. what have we become?
A quarter of the population being disabled is ludicrous, is it more accurate to say a quarter of the population claims disability?
Obviously what I’m about to say is purely anecdotal but I grew up rough, both parents being heroin addicts, got moved into care at 16. Both parents are still addicts, both claim full PIP, my dad has a PIP car.
My mum lives alone in a 3 bed council house and gets around 2.5k a month in benefits, my dad lives in a grotty bedsit and gets similar benefits and has a PIP car.
My sister lives in a council house with her 2 kids, works 16 hours a week, I don’t know how much she gets but she showed me her monthly outgoings for the last 4 months, every month is over 4k, she has no debt.
My other sister lives in a council flat and has never worked a day in her life, she’s 25, she has no quals and has no intention to ever work, she rarely leaves her bedroom, again all funded with benefits.
I’m 31, married in the process of buying a house with my wife, I earn 45k a year in the north west, I’ve worked since I was 16, apprenticeship first now engineering, you are the maker of your own destiny.
I’m sure there are plenty of genuine disabled people who need help but please stop with the mental health card, half of you don’t know what a tough life is.
Some of you people need to chill out, it literally just says a quarter of people are disabled NOT a quarter of people are stealing your tax money by claiming benefits.
Is it really so hard to believe that in a country with an aging population, post pandemic and with everyone having a credit card’s worth of plastic in them that a lot of people are having issues? I mean for Christ’s sake have at least a little empathy.
Things are hard enough as it is and only getting worse, people are struggling and your reaction to that is to lash out at those struggling the most rather than the pricks in charge?
Being disabled isn’t the same as being entitled to disability benefits.
How many folks in here have actually read the bloody article? It’s paywalled and I have a hard time believing everyone here shitting on disabled folks have a times subscription or clicks on links.
I’m sick of these ragebait headlines that get posted with no accompanying article text. Does OP even have access to the article?
It’s really shitty that the Times have used that imagery. Disabled does not mean “not working” and it does not mean “on benefits”. I’m disabled and I work 70-80 hours a week in a City job, over a quarter of my colleagues are disabled too.
Disabled has become a dirty word. It’s used now to mean someone who has no work ethic, who lives off the state, who drains NHS resources… Disabled people are to blame for all of society’s problems.
Just look at the comments here:
“Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the outcomes”
Discussions about how people are becoming disabled because they have no incentive to work… that’s not how that works.
Reasons why we have so many disabled people:
1. Massively ageing population. It’s hard to get to 65 without any kind of disability. That’s 20% of the population right there.
2. Advances in medicine. People with disabilities that previous would have killed them, or shortened their lifespan, are now surviving. People with Down’s Syndrome, people who just survived a car crash…
3. Terrible medical care. The NHS is backlogged – people are diagnosed late, injuries and illnesses are missed, people are ignored. This means people end up permanently disabled from things that would otherwise have been fixable.
4. Covid – yeah, I know, I said it. It had a big impact on people’s health, especially children. Even for those who refuse to believe the direct impact of it, lockdown caused a lot of people to gain weight and develop addictions.
Sure, there are people who pretend to have conditions that are comparatively easy to fake and there are people who have those conditions who use them as an excuse not to work when they could work. But, that’s the absolute minority of disabled people. Most disabled people are retired – they’re disabled because of their age and age-related issues. The next biggest group is disabled working people.
**Only 5.6% of disabled people are unemployed.**
Instead of blaming the disabled maybe look at the cause. Some people are transient disabled, in that they are not necessarily permanently disabled but are temporarily and need help and rehabilitation. We can also look as to why they ended up disabled, there are a lot of social factors that affect why someone may end up disabled.
Then there are people like me. I work but have an invisible disability. I am a late diagnosed autistic person who didn’t know they were disabled for my whole life so never received any help or accommodations and my life was a horrible mess. I managed to keep my job but my personal life was full of terrible meltdowns from having to act “normal”. It sucks because ignorant people, like many on this thread would have no idea of the complexity of my life and the effect it’s had on me when they meet me.
They poke everyone except the rich. They are making us going against each other while the rich sits in their mansion laughing seeing us fight.
The crisis we’re now facing was predicted 4 decades ago as a potential avenue of government policy. They were shouted down as fear mongering and nay sayers of change. Turning us into a service and financial powerhouse was fantastic for a few and has led to this for the majority. Sales of social housing to families often of more than one child, leads to dilution and cheap opportunities for by to let investors. Even Adam Smith the father of capitalism decried landlords. Destroying our heavy industry and sending the machines of industry to Asia .to ensure its demise and cull collective bargaining was a brilliant but short sighted move. Computer power has automated a vast majority of clerk, accounting, and teller positions. Those jobs are not coming back. The thousands of job sequestration overseas to save a few quid off the margins are not coming back. Digital gatekeeper strategy has replaced any brought home, keeping those margins positive but not creating a single job. Entertainment to detract has grown exponentially and validity of information lost in the chaff of banality and misinformation. By removing the production from the cycle , removing the ability to purchase beyond basic credit we have neutered generation after generation from aspirations until faced with the naked truth. Society has collapsed into denial, blame, and melancholy .Medicated to ignore. Meat robots are still cheaper than artificial ones, but we’re getting there. Blaming folk for grasping what security they can only vilified the genuine along with the malaise . Removing the support will not magically create employees without the employment. Physical barriers prevent disabled folk partaking in society. Fiscal and social ones limiting everyone else. Tldr, greed, and the quick buck fkd it
You do realise we have an ageing population, shitty NHS.
Just like the benefits bill, they never break down the figures because that would kill their point and attack.
When the government mention the rising benefits bill, they very cleverly omit that pensions are a huge chunk of this. People immediately think of scroungers.
Pensioners will be demonised soon, looks like they might be coming for that soon, but first disabled and the sick are easy targets.
How about the government ask the question why there are more sick and disabled because I imagine there is a very small % of people faking it.
18% of the population are retired and 3 % have long covid. We only 5 years ago had a significant event that prevented millions from getting medical care and caused significant harm to people’s mental health. On top of that we are in a financial crisis that seems to have gone on forever causing people to struggle to survive, no doubt having significant effect both mentally and physically. We really should be surprised it’s only 25%!
Its not exactly news, we have an aging population, there are more than that number of over 65’s alone
And many of those with a form of disability/ailment get sweet fuck all, if anything it should be a discussion about the lack of access to health care and why peoples health is getting worse/going untreated
This is a blatant attempt to start demonising another subset of vulnerable people in our society. They want us to start blaming our own again.
We are in a class war.
All of the money and assets are being sucked up by the ultra wealthy.
There are more billionaires now than ever before.
Society is being taught to punch down or misdirect their anger on to other causes when we should be looking at the cost of living, shrinkflation, subsidising failing services such as water companies that pocket the money for board and shareholder bonuses, increasing bills and wage stagnation.
The owner of the Times newspaper is Rupert Murdoch, an ultra wealthy non UK citizen.
Eat the rich. Tax the rich. Tax the corporations, improve quality of life for everyone and then we will be able to provide the best care for those that need it and stop others from becoming victims to the grind we are all finding ourselves in just to stay afloat.
Do we know the demographics? Most of the people I know who are disabled are elderly and there’s a load of those around the place.
Unfortunately I can’t read the article as I’m not a Times subscriber and it’s not sensible to jump to conclusions based on the headline alone.
Why has the UK become such a judgemental and hostile society … we should all try and be more compassionate and understanding maybe we would solve a lot more issues that way!
Just because you are counted in that 25% of disabled doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot work or study, let’s not conflate that. But it does mean you will need reasonable adjustments to do so!
I am disabled with autism, adhd, spina bifida and ME/CFS. I work 4 days a week from home. I get support from my line manager. Support opens up possibilities for people, but it doesn’t cure them of their underlying disabilities. I struggle hugely with loneliness, I can’t make new friends, I can’t often leave the house and do much on weekends due to ME, I can’t do any sport activities to meet people. I contribute to the economy but it doesn’t make me any less disabled.