The budget should offer more to support disabled jobseekers, writes Gemma Hope, while Mike Pender believes the costs of the pandemic should not fall solely on working-age adults. Plus letters from Michael Leigh, Adrian Cosker and Martin Piercy
I read Heather Stewart’s piece with interest (Sunak goes long on support for jobs – but says little about NHS or inequality, 3 March). The budget certainly did “go long”, but I’d still ask whether it was enough. We should certainly welcome measures like the extension to furlough and top-ups to universal credit. The issue is that they risk kicking key issues down the road unless the government follows them up with a long-term plan. The pandemic’s impact on jobs won’t end when we lift restrictions.
The barriers facing disabled jobseekers are systemic. Our research shows that the pandemic has exacerbated these barriers. Now is the time for the government to create specialised support for disabled jobseekers, and extend key skills programmes like Kickstart. Taking action now will do much to halt a deeper employment crisis and longer-term disability discrimination. We also need to see gaps in social care addressed. Disabled adults need social care in order to work. We cannot be said to be levelling up the country if disabled people are left out of the economic recovery.
Gemma Hope
Director of policy, Leonard Cheshire
