The number of people claiming incapacity benefits increased rapidly to the mid 1990s, and has hardly reduced since then. This paper uses survey data to plot trends over time in the prevalence of disability, and in the employment rates of disabled people, in a way which is independent of, but...

Policy has long been based on the assumption that disabled people are either capable, or incapable, of work. This paper extends earlier analyses which show that the probability of employment is a variable, not an absolute. The disability employment penalty varies by number, type, severity and...

The Work Capability Assessment governs entitlement to the Employment and Support Allowance - the social security benefit for people who are "incapable of work". It is based on rules which decide entitlement according to the combination of impairments experienced by the claimant. This paper...