Where will political parties find jobs for disabled people?

[wheretoyougonow]

Firstly I would like to state that this is absolutely not a thread about benefits and I don’t want it to descend into one. There are plenty of other threads discussing this.

There is a huge political push to get disabled people into the workforce. I honestly would love to know where these jobs will actually be. There are just under 5 million people under 65 that currently do not work due to disability in England and Wales. Let’s say out of those people the government criteria means 1 million people are deemed to be able to join the workforce. Where? Not in my county. The job market is VERY competitive and there are a distinct lack of jobs in my town and nearest city. In my community these experiences are very common:
16 year olds unable to find traditional Saturday jobs
18 year old unable to get apprenticeships
Young adults who did well/not as well in education unable to find full time employment
Middle aged people, who were made redundant, unable to find a job
Older people unable to retire due to costs of living (meaning there is a decrease in job opportunities- not a criticism of the people working)

Most job adverts are closing early due to the amount of applicants.

Where are these jobs going to come from and please can you get some for the list above whilst you’re at it!!

Not all work is aspirational or social. A lone worker cleaner in an office at 9pm is not getting anything from that job apart from money for doing it. No social life, no career prospects. That might suit some people, but be hell for others.
And the people in that job would probably be tipped up by UC anyway.

The figures out today on decreasing job vacancies and inactivity figures from DWP won’t help.

No, it's not. They want you to think it is so you can blame vulnerable disabled people instead of the catastrophic waste of money spent on projects that never get off the ground or a nuclear basis where ditches are dug for fences which have to go deep below the ground then as soon as they.(millions of pounds) decide they want them in a different place so they're filled in (millions more pounds) and repeat this up and down the country.

Welfare funding absolutely pales in comparison, but they wouldn't want you looking at that too closely would they?

But they get a year or two of reliable reference, could then move into a local hotel housekeeping position. Nothing is static and thinking well I am not going to work because it doesn’t tick my many boxes is defeatist. A lot of people have hard, low paid starter jobs.

Just getting out of your house and moving in your 9pm cleaning job is a start and it’s better than another night on sofa doomscrolling thinking you deserve a high paying, interesting, fully adaptable job, whilst having nothing to demonstrate you are willing or reliable. People take jobs for lower salaries for the training or experience. Or hard jobs for the reference. Sometimes the actual job is the least lucrative part of a position.

You might clean an office and someone wants a home cleaner, then you take more work in the day, get recommended word of mouth and within a couple of years can charge enough to turn down work and choose your hours and clients, or move into a hotel which is part of a chain and work you way up to managing cleaning, or go on a specialised cleaning course and help clean up oil spills or whatever.

Staying at home thinking a job is pointless and not for you keeps all future doors closed.

You have to be part of the world to be part of the world.

Is there going to be a sudden abundance of online WFH, perfect jobs, perfect hours, where you can be just fabulous you talking about all the fabulous you interests? God no, that’s ridiculous.

But a growing number of supported internships with companies locally, for some youngsters ready to try, even if the initial work isn’t aspirational isn’t a bad thing. Young adults who have been failed by the school system, shouldn’t have happened but they can’t go back, opening up support and giving some, a few, a bit of hope and a chance should not be discouraged, even if it isn’t you or your family that benefits.

Disabled people (as is the subject of this thread) are not going to be out doing cleaning jobs.. They are more likely to be employing cleaners themselves.

I’m disabled. I’m not claiming PIP. I’m of working age. I have long covid. I hoped it would be recoverable and that my break from work would be temporary, but like hundreds of thousands of others with long covid who previously worked, I can’t. A proportion of people catching covid today will not have a job by Christmas as a direct result of their current infection. There will be others reducing their hours and others clinging on as long as they can whilst spending the rest of their non work time trying to recover from the toll of work.

Working age welfare spending as a percentage of GDP has remained more or less unchanged over the last 5 decades. It was higher at some points under Thatcher from what I understand and under the labour governments of the 90s. It was actually also higher under austerity than it is now. They are taking one benefit that is going up in terms of claimant numbers (PIP) and banging on about it and failing to mention that there are other benefits where spending is going down by an amount that balances this out (and also that some individual claimants get much less than they would have done at some points in the past). So we are being misled that welfare spending is ballooning in any way and they are using monetary figures to pull the wool over everyone's eyes.

i.e yes, spending has gone up by many millions/billions but that's because of inflation, massive population growth and real growth in our National Income. Spending on EVERYTHING, more or less, is going up massively if you present the figures in this way. The fact remains, however, that working age welfare spending has not changed greatly since the mid to late 70s.

The government's own statistics actually show this quite clearly (you can compare the pie chart on your tax return with various figures from the government's various statistics offices). Sadly I think they are doing this for votes - people are angry and want someone to blame and the disabled are an easy target. And also because they want to increase defence spending. Thousands died during austerity (there was more need but very little extra money was spent on them) and there was no big outcry. I think they're counting on it to go unchallenged again.

Sorry, this is garbled but I'm tired and a bit worn out.

I’m really sorry to hear that.

that is very similar to my position as I was disabled before Covid but became unable to work as my disability got worse.

I hope things improve for you.

Not all disabilities are physical.

The young autistic man in the article works in an Amazon warehouse.

But the same principle can be applied to non- physical jobs. You need to start somewhere rather than seeing the negatives.

And not every disability can be catered for, obviously. But at least having a go at getting some youngsters on a path of work can only be a good thing. And for many who do have the opportunity it may mean a much more fulfilled life in many ways than being stuck at home, perhaps socially isolated, with few choices, gradually needing more and more support that doesn’t exist.

If this is one scheme that can be implemented across many areas fairly quickly I hope it works out for those that can access it.

You cannot change the outcome, without addressing the cause.
We need more mental health support/ funding.
A large number of people on PIP and LCFW have significant mental health issues.
I see many people coming through mental health services, after treatment, who can now work effectively, but the treatment part is crucial.
Emotional intensity/ personality disorders/ trauma history. These conditions will not resolve themselves. A person needs active support and treatment for over two years to learn how to cope and manage their emotions. But after the treatment is completed, a lot of people will be able to have fulfilled and rewarding lives. But by chucking them off PIP, offering no treatment or solution, you’re not addressing the reason they find things so difficult.
People with bipolar, an employer is going to need to understand what that entails.
Schizophrenia, there’s a lack of understanding and so many employers run a mile. I would like to see nationwide training rolled out to equip employers with how to support staff with MH.
But like OP is saying, it’s an employers market and so they can take their pick.
But investing in services such as MH services who actually help people to learn strategies to improve their MH and be able to manage their conditions, would be massively beneficial.
So many disabilities are routed in trauma.

@Octavia64thanks, and you.

@MidnightPatrol remember a portion of those unable to work are going to be nearing retirement anyway but it’s not feasible to find employment due to illness/disability AND age (employers aren’t likely to hire someone 60+ who need adjustments