Disabled households to be £6,500 a year worse off

Households with a disabled adult and a disabled child in them are the biggest victims of austerity, set to lose £6,500 a year by 2020/21 according to a report produced today by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Amongst the findings in the report, ‘Is Britain Fairer?’:

Disabled people were nearly three times as likely to experience severe material deprivation as non-disabled people: 36.8% compared to 13.5%.

Disabled adults were more likely than non-disabled adults to be living in poverty: 25.5% compared to 17.9%.

49% of households using a Trussell Trust foodbank had a disabled person in them.

Most startling of al, however, was the finding by the EHRC of how much worse off disabled people are likely to be by 2020/21 compared to 2010:

Households with at least one disabled adult and one disabled child: £6,500 worse off

Bangladeshi households: £4,400 worse off

Women: £400 worse off

Men: £30 worse off

The loss to disabled households amounts to a cut in income of 13%. This is in spite of the fact that the EHRC estimates that disabled people have an average of £570 a month in additional living costs, with one in five paying an extra £1,000 a month.

You can find the full report on the EHRC website.