Research and analysis

Disability Living Allowance and work: Exploratory research and evidence review (RR648)

This report presents the findings from a review of evidence about recipients of Disability Living Allowance.

Documents

Disability Living Allowance and work: Exploratory research and evidence review (RR648): report

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Disability Living Allowance and work: Exploratory research and evidence review (RR648): summary

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Details

By Andrew Thomas and Rita Griffiths

This report presents the findings from a review of evidence about recipients of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and a qualitative study of recent applicants for the benefit. The report explores a number of hypotheses as to why DLA recipients have particularly low rates of employment, even compared to other, similarly disadvantaged disabled people, and seeks to throw light on what effects DLA receipt may have on people’s decision making about work.

A telephone survey of 1,005 applicants for DLA was carried out prior to them hearing of the decision on their claims, and 637 were successfully re-contacted once they knew whether they had been awarded the benefit. There were 110 face-to-face interviews subsequently carried out with purposively selected individuals according to changes in their employment status.

Updates to this page

Published 1 July 2010

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