Scope offers four strategies to reduce the Disability Price Tag

Wed,13 March 2019
News Equality & Rights

The Disability Price Tag, Scope’s updated research for 2019, reveals the extra costs faced by disabled people and families with disabled children.

Read The Disability Price Tag

Key findings for disabled people:

  • On average disabled people face extra costs of £583 a month
  • On average, a disabled person’s extra costs are equivalent to almost half of their income (not including housing costs)
  • 1 in 5 disabled people face extra costs of more than £1,000 a month
  • Disabled people’s money doesn’t tend to go as far. On average, £100 for a non-disabled person is equivalent to just £68 for a disabled person.

Key findings for families with disabled children:

  • On average families with disabled children face extra costs of £581 a month
  • For almost a quarter (24%) of families with disabled children, extra costs amount to over £1,000 a month.

Scope are calling on Government to tackle the extra costs faced by disabled people and their families. We need action in four areas:

Universal Credit (UC)

  • Use the trial of ‘managed migration’ to ensure disabled people don’t lose access to financial support as they move to UC
  • Work with disabled people and disability organisations to develop new components within UC to offset loss of support
  • Work with families and disability organisations to ensure disabled children receive support to help meet extra costs.

Personal Independence Payments (PIP)

  • Reform the PIP assessment to accurately capture extra costs faced by disabled people.

Warm Home Discount

  • Reform core eligibility criteria so that support can be more effectively targeted at disabled people.

Early Intervention and Family Resilience fund

  • Set up an Early Intervention and Family Resilience Fund. Investing in emotional support for the whole family at the point of diagnosis.
The Disability Price Tag