Disability and austerity: the perfect storm of attacks on social rights

Abstract

This chapter will focus on the impact that the post 2008 austerity regime has had on the lives of disabled people in the UK. It will trace the way in which previous hard- fought for rights in social care and welfare that have been developing since 1997 have been stripped back under austerity. It will focus on the stigmatisation of disabled people as ‘shirkers’, welfare conditionality and budget cuts. Looking at social care, direct payments and self-directed support, and the move from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payments and the impact of other changes in the benefits system, it will examine how these changes have created a ‘perfect storm’ of welfare cutbacks. It will also look at how disability intersects with gender and age to reduce rights and support further, particularly with the reduction of support available to informal carers. Looking forward, this chapter will examine the impact of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the devolution of universal credit and DLA to see whether there is likely to be some divergence in disability rights between Scotland the rest of the UK, and speculate about the possible outcomes of Brexit and our withdrawal from the EU.