What is the cost of being disabled?
The cost of living for people with disabilities should be everyone's concern
An unfortunate reality is that life costs more when you are disabled. Why is this? Simply put, living with a disability often means that extra costs are required to gain access to mainstream society. Even in a country like the U.K., where I live and where healthcare is mostly free, none of the necessary extra services and social care are free.
A recent study called the “Disability Price Tag,” by the U.K.-based disability rights organization Scope, found that on average, the extra cost of disability is equivalent to 67% of household income after housing costs. 67%! And this isn’t a uniquely British problem. The National Disability Institute estimates that in the U.S., “households containing an adult with a work-disability require, on average, 28% more income … to obtain the same standard of living as a comparable household without a member with a disability.”
In a world rife with ableism that frequently limits access by disabled people to the workplace, you can see how this should be a major cause for societal concern. I certainly do. But people often hear about reports like this and think that it’s not their problem because they aren’t disabled. To me, that’s a shortsighted approach. Also, we know that the majority of the disabled community isn’t made up of people like me, who have congenital illnesses like sickle cell disease. Most people developed their disability at some point in their life, either through aging, an accident, poor health, or other causes.
It’s up to all of us to change
The harsh reality is that many able-bodied people will become disabled at some point in their lives. This means that even if they don’t, it’ll likely happen to someone they love, whether it’s family, friends, or neighbors. This is why I say that lowering the costs of care services and improving access to jobs for people with disabilities should be everyone’s fight.
The World Health Organization reports that the global prevalence of people with disabilities is increasing due to “demographic and epidemiological changes in the population (such as aging and the global increase in chronic health conditions) and health emergencies (such as disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and conflicts).”
A cycle of poverty also disproportionately impacts people living with disabilities. An ableist worldview denies disabled people access to the workplace. The U.K. government reported that in 2022, the employment rate for people with disabilities here was only 52.6%, compared with 82.5% for nondisabled people. Speaking from personal experience, even when access to the workplace is granted there is a concrete ceiling enforced due to people’s limiting beliefs about us. This hinders our career development and ability to generate income. For a community that requires much more income to achieve the same quality of living as their counterparts, how attainable is this for much of the disabled community? Not very, I’d argue.
The U.K. has a welfare system that acts as a public safety net. All working people who earn enough are taxed, which helps to fund the welfare system. The idea is that if anyone should fall upon hard times, such as suffering a disabling event that prevents them from working or that requires major life changes, they can apply to receive these welfare funds. It seems to me that the system doesn’t work as simply as I’ve just explained it, though. The U.K. agency responsible for this area, the Department for Work and Pensions, is currently under investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission for their treatment of disabled benefits claimants. Even where applications are successful, the amount of money distributed often doesn’t meet the actual cost of living.
If someone wishes to take a wholly individualistic approach by arguing that because neither they nor their loved ones are disabled, it’s not their problem, I would suggest that they should be concerned about this issue. As disability prevalence continues to increase, this welfare system, one of the backbones of British society, will eventually require everyone to pay more taxes.
Even in societies that don’t have a similar welfare system, unless everyone is saving money in case of emergencies, such as suffering a disabling event at some point in the future, we can expect an eventual degradation of the quality of life.
Do you deserve a lesser quality of life because you developed an illness or suffered an accident? Are we as a society content with the assertion that disabled people don’t have a right to the same quality of life as others? Because that’s what inaction here suggests. Until this issue is better investigated and understood, and actionable change is implemented, we’ll continue to live in a society where the quality of life of people with disabilities is lower than their able-bodied counterparts.
Note: Sickle Cell Disease News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Sickle Cell Disease News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to sickle cell disease.
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