People with disabilities must shape response to cost of living crisis - Greg Wright

The study is timely because the share of the working-age population with a disability has risen from 17 to 23 per cent since 2013, which is an increase of more than 2.6m people.

People with disabilities are more vulnerable to rising costs of essentials because energy and food make up a greater share of their budgets, on average, than for the non-disabled, in part because of additional needs caused by their health problems.

The study concluded that almost half (48 per cent) of disabled adults say they have had to cut back on energy use this winter, compared with almost one-third (32 per cent) of people without a disability.

Around two-fifths of people with a disability (41 per cent) said they couldn’t afford to keep their homes warm, compared with under one-fifth (23 per cent) of the non-disabled population. Almost one-in-three (31 per cent) people with a disability said they have had to reduce their expenditures on food, compared to 18 per cent of the non-disabled population.

Charlie McCurdy, an economist at the Resolution Foundation, said : “This means people with a disability – who account for a third of the poorest households in Britain – will require additional protection during the cost-of-living crisis, which the Government has acknowledged through their cost-of-living payments.

“But more policy work will be needed, not just through this crisis but to make more progress on closing the huge income gaps that already existed between disabled people and the rest of the population.”

In fairness, the Government has recognised that disabled people face extra costs. As part of a £37bn package of support, the Government supported six million people with a disability or health condition with an extra £150 payment last year.

Millions of low-income households received at least £1,200 of direct help, including £400 towards energy costs over 2022-23. Disability benefits will also be increased in line with inflation for 2023-24 and the Government is making £900 of new cost of living payments to those on means-tested benefits next year, with a further £150 disability cost of living payment to those on disability benefits.

The spokesman added: “We have a range of initiatives to help disabled people start, stay and succeed in work, including tailored work coach support, to help boost incomes further.”

These interventions are welcome, but the fact remains that far too many people with disabilities are enduring a miserable, freezing winter. It’s time for working group, made up of disabled people and leading business figures, to be convened to devise a strategy to reduce the income gap. It’s vital that policy decisions are shaped by people who know how it feels to live in constant fear of plummeting temperatures.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post