Green Paper Related Discussions

But in reality, PIP is not an out of work benefit. It is a DISABILITY benefit.

People are definitely not saying most PIP claimants are in work. The 1 in 6 statistic is pretty ubiquitous in discussions by disabled people.

When people talk about people needing PIP to work, they are only talking about that % who are in employment, who rely on PIP to help fund support.

PIP is a GATEWAY benefit, which means it enables you to claim other things like carer's allowance, motability, blue badge etc. Some of these are significant for people getting to or staying in work. This is what is being referred to. Nothing more.

The PIP and WCA/ESA etc discussions are different for a few reasons (also why WCA and PIP should not be linked). The main one is that, while PIP/DLA/Attendance Allowance are DISABILITY benefits, out of work benefits like ESA, UC etc are WELFARE benefits.

This is important because WELFARE benefits, while means tested, pay contributions into state pension. If you are never employed, but receive welfare benefits throughout your life, a contribution is going into your state pension fund. This means, when you reach retirement age, you will have a state pension. You may also be eligible for pension credit, IF you qualify at that point.

PIP, however, is a DISABILITY benefit. There are no contributions from PIP into your state pension. There are also not usually any exemptions on things like dental treatment, prescriptions, etc (except in extenuating circumstances). Because PIP is not means tested, there is no assumption of poverty. It is literally just there to support the cost of disability. How individual people use it varies, but it is not means tested because the cost of disability does not have a finite limit.

Meanwhile, disabled people who work are disproportionately at the lower end of the pay scale, sometimes part time, often on temporary contracts. They may or may not have access to a company pension pot, but there is no guarantee that from their employment alone, they will have enough contributions to make up a full state pension entitlement by the time they retire.

To put this into context, I've worked on and off in various jobs since 2004. My last permanent job till this one ended in 2011. I have never earned enough to pay back a penny of my student loan. I have not earned enough to pay tax between around 2007 and last month. My current job became permanent at exactly the same time the green paper was issued. I currently live with family because I've been unable to afford to rent on my own - I am now stuck waiting for the welfare review to determine PIP's future before I know if I can do this. My current combined income, including PIP, barely meets the lowest rent threshold in my area.

But, claiming PIP undoubtedly helped me to get the job I have now. As an autistic person, I took a lot of time to readjust after lockdown. My family were locked down for two years due to a vulnerable relative. Because I had PIP, I could take that time to find a job I could do, and a team that would accept me, reducing the risk of failure. I was also able to work over a year on minimal hours at a very low rate of pay in order to prove myself capable of the job I have now. PIP gave me that time to earn where I am now.

Basically, my point is that PIP helps people in a lot of different ways. But at the end, it's a DISABILITY benefit, and DISABLED people should be entitled to claim it, because every DISABLED person's circumstances is different. And unlike WELFARE benefits, PIP does not provide for a person's future. At best it can help with the now.

The moral of this story is that we should never speak for each other's circumstances, nor make assumptions about strangers' lives, any more than we should allow others to generalise our own.