HUNDREDS OF thousands of people aged over 40 in Britain should not be pressured into finding work, because of the distress such efforts would cause and because they have little chance of getting it, a major British report has said.
Under legislation passed this year by the British government to curb the growing £12.5 billion invalidity benefits bill, tougher medical rules have been brought into force affecting all bar those who are regarded as “the most severely ill”.
So far, more than 200,000 people’s right to the £90-a-week welfare payment has been examined and one in three was found to be no longer entitled to it, while a further 40 per cent stopped claiming the benefit while being assessed.
However, the study by the Centre for Regional Economic Research at the University of Sheffield said it was pointless to crack down on the middle-aged jobless when British unemployment figures are still rising.
“Whether it makes sense to extend the reforms to include all existing claimants must be questioned, especially in the areas where there are exceptionally large numbers of invalidity claimants, many of whom have been on benefit for a very long time.
“The distress that is likely to be caused by new medical tests and compulsory work-focused interviews is considerable,” said the report, which has been sent to minister Yvette Cooper.
“Many long-term invalidity benefit claimants will argue, quite correctly, that their age, poor health, poor skills and long period out of the labour market render their chances of finding work virtually nil, especially at a time of recession,” the report added. “There is therefore a likelihood, so far as most existing invalidity benefit claimants are concerned, that the department for work and pensions will expend much time, effort and money for little obvious return.”
Instead, the British government should target its efforts on those aged below 40 and engage “with the rest on a voluntary basis”.
Almost 2.6 million people claim invalidity payments, of whom 1.1 million are women, up from 350,000 in 1984.
The numbers claiming invalidity are highest in the north of England, Scotland and Wales, which have been ravaged by the closure of the mines and manufacturing industries since the 1980s.