Britain is becoming sicker, with a sustained increase in levels of ill-health and disability. This creates financial challenges for families, and a fiscal challenge for the Government, with spending on incapacity and disability benefits forecast to rise from £40 billion today to £60 billion by the end of the Parliament. Everyone agrees that the current system is not working. But no-one can agree on how to change it. The Government will need to break that stalemate in its upcoming Green Paper. What are the trends in ill-health and disability, and how reliable is the data? To what extent can we expect the welfare reform to solve a wider societal problem? How can the Government rebuild trust in the benefits system, support people into work, and reduce spending? And can it do this without hitting living standards of vulnerable people? The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research, we will hear from leading experts on how the Government should approach important reforms to incapacity and disability benefits in a way that doesn’t harm living standards. The event will be open for people to physically attend, alongside being broadcast via YouTube and the Resolution Foundation website. Viewers will be able to submit questions to the panel before and during the event via Slido.
