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I find these statistics very surprising - re Disabled people

(53 Posts)
grannyonce Wed 24-Jun-15 07:48:49

given that only about 3.4 million people receive DLA
the rest must be ESA, or as you say self-diagnosed (but it is misleading to use the 11m figure in arguments about disability cuts)
how would they know the self-diagnosed people?
I suppose the 'disability' costs/numbers for the pensioners is including in the 'pensions and associated benefits' figures. hmm

loopylou Wed 24-Jun-15 07:23:24

I presume that in this case 'disability' is self-defined and not necessarily meaning registered disabled so could apply to poor hearing or mild arthritis depending on how it affects the individual.

It could be a temporary disability following an operation or an illness, but I'm not surprised at the findings when we know that demographically we have an ageing population. The impact of this is already here.

grannyonce Wed 24-Jun-15 06:48:45

I had no idea that so many pensioners were classed as disabled?
these figures come from the Livability website:- ( I wonder what their criteria for disability is if it is accepted that 'oldies' do deteriorate as they age)

There are around 11.9 million disabled people in the UK; this is roughly 19% of the population.

The prevalence of disability rises with age: approximately 5% (800,000) of children, 16% (5.8m) of working age adults and 45% (5.3m) of people of State Pension age are disabled.

At least 56% of all disabled people have an impairment relating to mobility.

4 out of 5 disabled people acquire their disability during their lives.

By 2020 it is estimated that nearly 60% of people over 50 will have a long-term health condition.

that last estimate is very worrying as it places a huge burden on the NHS and care provision. shock