Welfare to work for the (in)capacitated - the reform of incapacity benefit

Abstract

This article examines the reforms of Incapacity Benefit which are concerned with encouraging claimants to move from welfare to work. The article assesses what Incapacity Benefit claimants want in terms of employment and security and considers the principles on which the reforms of Incapacity Benefit are based. In so doing, it recognises that there is some common ground between the goals of claimants and the objectives they were designed for. It suggests that the Government's reforms are essentially one-sided and that consequently its objectives are only partly realised, at the expense of claimants' security of entitlement. In order to satisfy the aims of both claimants and Government, the article proposes an alternative model which could accommodate partial incapacity. Finally, the article suggests that the Government needs to reconsider the purpose of Incapacity Benefit, and points out that there are additional issues which need to be addressed to facilitate a return to work for the sick and disabled.