Assessing the distributional impact of reforms to disability benefits for older people in the UK: implications of alternative measures of income and disability costs

Hancock, R and Pudney, S (2014) Assessing the distributional impact of reforms to disability benefits for older people in the UK: implications of alternative measures of income and disability costs. Ageing and Society, 34 (02). pp. 232-257. ISSN 1469-1779

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Abstract

The UK Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are non-means-tested benefits paid to many disabled people aged 65 + . They may also increase entitlements to means-tested benefits through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). We investigate proposed reforms involving withdrawal of AA/DLA. Despite their present non-means-tested nature, we show that withdrawal would affect mainly low-income people, whose losses could be mitigated if SDP were retained at its current or a higher level. We also show the importance of the method of describing distributional impacts and that use of inappropriate income definitions in official reports has overstated recipients' capacity to absorb the loss of these benefits.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Economics Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Business and Local Government Data Research Centre (former - to 2023) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Services and Primary Care Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023) Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Research on Children and Families
Depositing User:	Users 2731 not found.
Date Deposited:	19 Nov 2012 16:09
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2025 00:00
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/40122
DOI:	10.1017/S0144686X1200075X

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