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The dynamics of disability and benefit receipt in Britain
[Large sample properties of matching estimators for average treatment effects]

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  • Melanie K Jones
  • Duncan McVicar

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the dynamic relationship between disability and welfare benefit receipt in Britain. Exploiting rarely used longitudinal data, it examines the impact of disability onset and disability exit on receipt of a range of beneficial outcomes, utilizing differences in the timing of onset/exit for identification. Disability onset increases receipt of disability insurance (DI), sickness benefits, and non-sickness benefits by 6, 8, and 9 percentage points in the onset year, although almost 70% of those experiencing onset remain independent of the welfare system in the short-run. DI reforms that toughened screening, reduced generosity, and increased conditionality appear to have substantially reduced DI inflows following onset, but without affecting the overall probability of welfare receipt. Disability exit, although neglected in the literature, is common during working-age and leads to a decrease in DI (and total welfare receipt), suggesting DI is not an absorbing state.

Suggested Citation

  • Melanie K Jones & Duncan McVicar, 2022. "The dynamics of disability and benefit receipt in Britain [Large sample properties of matching estimators for average treatment effects]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 936-957.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:74:y:2022:i:3:p:936-957.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpab058
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    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer Roberts & Karl Taylor, 2022. "New Evidence on Disability Benefit Claims in Britain: The Role of Health and the Local Labour Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 131-160, January.
    2. Roberts, Jennifer & Taylor, Karl, 2019. "New Evidence on Disability Benefit Claims in the UK: The Role of Health and the Local Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 12825, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Christina Beatty & Steve Fothergill, 2023. "The persistence of hidden unemployment among incapacity claimants in large parts of Britain," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 38(1), pages 42-60, February.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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