Benefits Cheats Cause A Negative Image Of Disabled People: New Report

New Research by the disability charity, Scope shows that almost half (46%) of disabled people feel that attitudes towards them have worsened over the last year.

Disabled people single out the tiny number of people falsely claiming disability benefits and the way their actions are reported by the media as the chief causes of public hostility. At the same time disabled people report that they are increasingly confronted by strangers questioning their right to support.


It comes after ministers released data suggesting 55% of sickness benefit claimants were no longer eligible for it. The government is changing the welfare system to try to get more people into work and is scrapping the three main benefits for disabled people in the process. Anyone receiving these benefits will be reviewed to see if they are capable of work or eligible for other benefits.

But a report from a parliamentary committee for Scope has warned that changes to disabled people's benefits may risk their right to independent living. The report asked 500 disabled people, their parents and carers a series of questions in England, Wales and Scotland. It found:

• 46% of those polled said people's attitudes towards them had worsened over the last year
• 40% said people's atitudes had stayed the same; 16% said they had improved
• Nearly two-thirds (64%) said they had experienced aggression, hostility or name calling
• Nearly three-quarters or (73%) said they had experienced an assumption they did not work.
• When asked what could be contributing to such hostility, 87% singled out people claiming disability benefits to which they are not entitled
• 84% highlighted negative media coverage about benefit cheats

You can read the full report & more on this issue from Scope here on their website: http://www.scope.org.uk/news/discrimination