income support or esa for lone parent

krisskross

So it looks as if very little will change. Typical of this government. Lots of hot air, no teeth.

sharski

krisskross... I'm not sure what you mean by 'very little will change'... it's a huge change!!

NASA_2

krisskross wrote: »

So it looks as if very little will change. Typical of this government. Lots of hot air, no teeth.

Alot of people seem to be on ESA for a short period of time. So far anyway. I'm hoping this continues to be the case.

krisskross

sharski wrote: »

krisskross... I'm not sure what you mean by 'very little will change'... it's a huge change!!

But if lone parents can just switch over to ESA from IS without any problems then where is the change? How is this going to get people into work if they don't want to?

The only plus I can think of is that ESA may not give the automatic rights to prescriptions, dental and optical stuff that IS does.

sharski

Lone parents switching to ESA will be subject to medicals, etc - & under ESA they are 'stricter'.. i.e. looking at what someone IS capable of doing rather than what they are NOT capable of doing.
With ESA, there are going to be a heck of a lot more people failing medicals too. The emphasis will be on finding work that you can do... rather than IS where a lot of lone parents knew they could just agree to look for work but do nothing... (lone parents on this forum - please don't be offended.. I don't mean anyone on here - just day to day experiences)

With regards to prescriptions, etc - those coming off IS onto ESA will be claiming 'income based' ESA which is still a means-tested benefit and, therefore, will still be eligible for such things.

It's too early to say what impact all these changes will have but.... once it's all up & running, I'll be sure to keep you posted!!

krisskross

sharski wrote: »

Lone parents switching to ESA will be subject to medicals, etc - & under ESA they are 'stricter'.. i.e. looking at what someone IS capable of doing rather than what they are NOT capable of doing.
With ESA, there are going to be a heck of a lot more people failing medicals too. The emphasis will be on finding work that you can do... rather than IS where a lot of lone parents knew they could just agree to look for work but do nothing... (lone parents on this forum - please don't be offended.. I don't mean anyone on here - just day to day experiences)

With regards to prescriptions, etc - those coming off IS onto ESA will be claiming 'income based' ESA which is still a means-tested benefit and, therefore, will still be eligible for such things.

It's too early to say what impact all these changes will have but.... once it's all up & running, I'll be sure to keep you posted!!

But surely there will only be medicals if ESA is claimed because of illness.And if the medical is failed then it will just mean swapping to JSA type ESA .Income based still so no loss of income. Win win situation I think.

If it is looking for work type ESA then all these fit lone parents have been perfectly capable of looking for work before. So easy not to get a job.

healy

krisskross wrote: »

But surely there will only be medicals if ESA is claimed because of illness.And if the medical is failed then it will just mean swapping to JSA type ESA .Income based still so no loss of income. Win win situation I think.

If it is looking for work type ESA then all these fit lone parents have been perfectly capable of looking for work before. So easy not to get a job.

ESA can only be claimed because of illness or disability. If someone fails the medical they would have to claim JSA and would not be swapped to "JSA type ESA".

krisskross

healy wrote: »

ESA can only be claimed because of illness or disability. If someone fails the medical they would have to claim JSA and would not be swapped to "JSA type ESA".

So is there any difference in income based JSA and income based ESA?

tom9980

Yes the person has a disability which makes getting any job not appropriate however they would get help finding something suitable for their disability or illness. Remember with JSA you are after awhile expected to take any job that is offered to you.

This is of course in theory and the thing that worries me and a lot of charities most about ESA is how an advisor with no medical training is able to decide what is and is not appropriate for someone especially when often doctors can disagree with each other.

It will be a few more months until we start seeing people filter through the assesment phases im sure then we will see a big jump in complaints and help requests here.

sleepless_saver

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

BBC 2007

"In a speech, Mr Hutton said Britain has one of the lowest levels of lone parent employment in Europe, with almost half on benefits.


He said up to a third of lone parents move on to incapacity benefit once their child benefit ends as their youngest reaches 16. "

I think that many people will have different views on why this is the case, discussion if which is probably outside the remit of the Benefits Board.

I know what I think.

This - a third of lone parents moving on to incapacity benefit - was such an amazing statistic that I looked up the original speech which it turns out had been misquoted by the BBC in their report. What he actually said was: "Furthermore in the UK, when the youngest child reaches 16, there is evidence that as many as a third of lone parents move almost seamlessly onto Incapacity Benefit or make a further claim for income support within the following 12 months " which is not the same thing at all.