How is the current benefits system sustainable?

[OneLemonOrca]

This is kind of a sub thread from the public enquiry thread about child development.
More and more people are being diagnosed with autism and severe anxiety, and being deemed unfit to work full time or at all.
I am wondering what is going to happen or how this will actually be sustained. Is there going to be changes in eligibility to benefits? Is there anyone that actually knows?

There's two types of disability/illness benefit.

One is meant to cover the additional costs of being disabled. You can claim this whether you work or not. Lots of people (for example) who use wheelchairs get this but still work and can have children.
This is PIP (personal independence payment)

The other out of work benefit is ESA. In order to get this you need to be out of work, either off sick or unemployed.

So plenty of people get disability benefits and work. This is an intentional design of the system.

This thread is taking a sinister turn into "you can do x, so why can't you do y" territory.
I am waiting for a comment about being able to work because you can post on MN.

Life demands are like spinning plates.... family, relationships, self care, job, friendships, hobbies. If you have a chronic illness (physical or mental) or are ND, you most likely don't have all the poles to spin all of those plates, so you pick carefully the ones that you can spin. If you have a partner/spouse or lots of support, you can spin more.

I have an adult Ds with autism (never claimed benefits) who I have to quite comprehensively support to manage a stressful full on responsible job.
It includes talking him down or through work or travel situations at times.
His self care skills aren't high enough for him to manage independently and would impact on his work quickly. Thankfully his niche abilities make him valuable enough that his work are good about being flexible about his difficulties
I'm pretty sure if he stopped working he could manage all the other things instead.
The rest of us take being able to do both, for granted.
I suspect this is the reality for many parents with autism.

We will need less employees in the future due to AI. In fact a lot of the jobs left will be ones that are in STEM or social care, both of which are quite ND friendly anyway. I am an ND person in a job. It's been a struggle at times. Employers still expect you to work in a NT way. The amount of times I have been told off for not sharing what I'm doing a lot of the time, my productivity is twice what others is, precisely because I don't stand around speaking about how much work I have on. I just do it.
I work in mental health and I still have to beg for adaptions.

Well why wouldn’t you ask that? You can’t just have a system where people claim they can’t work but can do the things they want to do, and get free money no questions asked. I’m sorry but having children is far harder than any job - I’m not convinced somebody raising 2+ kids absolutely cannot do any job role whatsoever.

Xeno Bitch you forgot mother/parent in the plate spinner list. But of course if you use that resource as an adult male it's because you are a Mummy's boy, or lazy, not autistic and unable to spin all your plates at the same time.

@ScrubMum I'm on disability benefits and my health has gotten worse under the system as it's very stressful not anywhere near my local minimum wage. My illnesses are inherited not due to lifestyle. Knowing there are people that see my life as disposable in favor of economic success makes me more stressful. What is your alternative I would prefer one to this experience. Working was overall much better. I'm in the high recovery stage of an illness, and would find it impossible to do that within the day as well as work and get to work.

It’s not economic success it’s economic viability, where do you think the benefits come from?

The biggest issue is the shift in population demographics. There aren’t enough young workers to fund pensioners & a free at the point of care.

NHS

Bring jn high tax paying immigrants. If they want to come. Immigrants are not eligible for benefits for the first five years. They can use the NHS but as they are usually healthier and younger, they don't.

And house them where?

The problem with talking about economic viability of benefits is that if you start taking the view that anyone on benefits is a scrounger and should be shot then you need to shoot a lot of people.

You need to get rid of all the retired. You need to get rid of all the ill, whether they are permanently ill or temporarily ill. You need to get rid of anyone who claims unemployment benefit for six months between jobs.

Honestly, if you get rid f anyone who has ever claimed any kind of benefit, there'll be about three people left in the country.

Who said anything about shooting people? Bizarre

Because it is offensive and borders on ableism. And it is none of your business if someone who has kids is unable to work.

But that's what those three 1%'s want.😂

High tax payers find their own private housing, usually. And yes that creates scarcity. But they are net contributors. Which we need.

Scarcity equals higher rents equals not being able to find their own housing.

Yes it is because it’s become a societal issue due to so many people not working.

No it's not, there's a lot of disdain for benefit claimants on here that I'd hazard a guess that shooting would be acceptable to some.
Not all benefit claimants are fraudsters.

Nobody said they were. This is getting weirder by the minute

Oh well just continue with an aging, anxious population then, with more people on benefits than paying tax. There doesn't appear to be a solution. Hope to vote the Tories out so at least money is not wasted on Rwanda but I doubt Labour will be able to do that much better.

Agree.

Lots of people on benefits also pay tax.

Anyone should gets state pension and earns enough has to pay tax.
Lots of people who get child benefit pay tax
Many people who get PIP pay tax
Quite a few people who get universal credit will also pay tax.

It really isn't.
Interrogating the autistic PP who has kids is fucking weird. The ins and out of why they can't work is between them and the DWP, and no one else.