To wonder why covid is so rarely mentioned as a factor in increased disability figures?

[Grapeexpectation]

It seems so odd. Why aren’t covid infections and their aftermath on health ever mentioned as factors in increased absence from school, long term sickness, people having to stop work etc? We already know that millions have long covid, reinfections double the risk and that each wave is going to increase the numbers, so why is it so rarely mentioned? It makes so little logical sense to compare figures to pre-pandemic, without mentioning the health impacts of the virus involved, yet it happens frequently. What’s the rationale for not mentioning it as a factor?

Probably because like so many other invisible disabilities and neurodivergence, there are many who don’t believe in it.

It's also odd that the effect of stopping everyone's lives, destroying businesses and derailing education and relationships isn't mentioned. It seems obvious to me that if you whack pretty much everyone in the country in the knees repeatedly, they're going to struggle to get back up for quite a while.

The government (and most people in this country) are still hoping that if they close their eyes and pretend hard enough, Covid will disappear or stop being dangerous.

Also the enormous debt we're in - you hear austerity and Brexit to blame, but rarely Covid in the same sentence.

Because that's not what people claim as to be their disability compared to mental health.

I also can't understand why nobody mentions that this leap in the number of people claiming benefits or becoming economically inactive through ill health coincides just about exactly with the unbelievable rise in hospital waiting lists for everything from joint replacement to mental health treatment. If you are not seen and treated in a timely manner you will inevitably deteriorate (sometimes to a point which it is not possible to come back from). While you are waiting for treatment and getting worse work will either get fed up with you being off all the time and get rid of you or you will leave because you are no longer capable of carrying out the job. it's not rocket science is it?

This.

Also some of the increase of disability in people of working age is due to the rise in retirement age, which strangely enough didn't actually stop people getting old..

Also, a lot of people I know with problems after having COVID were already disabled in some way, and the virus made their existing symptoms worse, or it added new symptoms that are classified by doctors as part of the existing disability, rather than a new one.

It's both. Lots of people with pre existing conditions have had them significantly worsened by Covid. Lots of people who were previously very healthy have new onset health issues triggered by Covid infections.

Abso-bloody-lutely.
I was told on Friday it’s a 40 week wait for a gynaecology referral in my area. (I am so so lucky to have been able to take out medical insurance after last time.)
A lot of those women will have conditions that stop them working.

The same reason we don't talk about retirement ages rising being a big reason for an increase in disability figures, people don't want the truth they prefer to just assume mental illness doesn't exist and every disabled person is just lazy.

Much easier to imply that the rising numbers of disabled people are in fact rising numbers of lazy shirking work shy scroungers.

Admitting that its because we have more disabled people for a variety of reasons including a pandemic and a failing floundering NHS is not going to play into the preferred narrative.

It's the same as "the young don't want to work" instead of realising that there aren't any jobs for them.

My son was telling me there were 77,000 applications last year for 700 civil service fast stream jobs.

If you can't get a job that won't do much for your mental health, either.

And then there's RTO - let people work from home in office jobs and they can hold a job down. But employers are too stupid.

Of course there are other (very valid) factors as people have raised on this thread, but with the exception of rising retirement age, which is also rarely mentioned, these other factors are spoken about - there’s no taboo or huge continued avoidance like there is with health issues resulting from covid infections.

The government closed most Long Covid clinics which means that there’s no help available even if you ask for it. My GP has tried to be supportive and suggested various things to improve my symptoms. I suspect most doctors don’t care about LC as there isn’t a cure.

Because it would be admitting that Long Covid is a thing and that would open Pandora's Box when it comes to post viral problems such as m.e. The government doesn't want to admit the scale of these problems. Far more convenient to label people as scroungers.

In addition to the factors mentioned changes to the benefits system has reduced income for people with health conditions so they claim PIP basically to supplement their income. Two examples until about 2017 people on ESA were paid a bit more than people on JSA . This was abolished. Also under the tax credits regime there was more scope for people over 60 and with health conditions to work part time. Under UC this has all gone. Add in long waiting lists. Long Covid, impact covid on other health conditions, higher retirement age - particularly affecting people who work in physical jobs- and there are lots of reasons for more disability.

Millions of people do not have long Covid

I wasn’t disabled in any way prior to LC.

Currently entering in yr 3 of it.

I was talking to Dh about waits.

I bought at house in Oct 88. Something in it made me sneeze absolutely non stop. Went to gp and referred to allergy clinic. Saw them on 23td Dec ( l remember this as it was so near Xmas)

So about 8 weeks wait. Imagine this now!😲
And this was under a Tory government!

Yes, our long covid clinic has been closed and there is no other support. My GP is kind and caring but doesn’t have anywhere to refer me to, so I’m just left to be unwell.

Until April 2020, I was a deputy headteacher in a primary school. I think I had a maximum of 5 sick days in nearly 20 years of teaching. I was fit, active and relatively young (late 30s). I got Covid in April 2020 and never recovered. I am now completely housebound. I never thought I would be someone who would be reliant on benefits, etc. (but it is now my only income and isn’t even enough money to have the heating on in winter unless it is absolutely freezing). I would love to be back at work.

It is hard to quantify that current health issues were caused by Covid.

Except for the people on Pip with LC. And the kids who can’t attend school because of it.

And the huge rise in mental health issues amongst young people due to the pandemic.

Yep, and all the people in their 50s who get made redundant then can’t find anything other than minimum wage jobs with poor conditions.

So many factors involved including job insecurity.

It’s not just about benefits - lots of disabled people don’t claim for various reasons, even if they would be eligible. I suspect some that may previously have been unable to work may still be in that situation, but due to cost of living increases, may now have to claim (I’m aware that people can still work on PIP).