Learning disability charity Mencap is calling on the UK Government to raise the Minimum Income Guarantee in line with inflation, to prevent people with a learning disability who are on benefits and receive social care from facing devastating cuts to their income.

  • 152,000 people with a learning disability at risk of destitution as their benefits drained for social care.   

Like most of the population, people with a learning disability and their families are being severely impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, and yet many are also having to pay towards essential care from their meagre benefit allowance.  

In the UK, working-aged disabled adults (aged 18-65) are charged £670m a year for their care. Councils are entitled to take money from disabled people’s benefits to contribute towards the cost of their care and a Minimum Income Guarantee exists to limit this. However, this has only increased by 3.1% in seven years. Councils are increasingly forced to use this entitlement to prop up their own finances, last year alone they took a total of £690m from working aged disabled adults with some people even slapped with large bills for arrears. 

The Government sets out a minimum amount that councils need to leave care users with – but shockingly, this is just £74 a week for single people under 25 to cover all additional expenses, meaning many people with a learning disability and their families are having to choose between buying food or putting on their heating.  

Sadly, this is often a postcode lottery that leaves disabled people at the mercy of their council’s finances. Some councils do not require the extra money from social care charging, or have prioritised adult social care over other spending.   

Research shows that disabled people face extra costs of up to £583 a month more than non-disabled people to live the same quality of life*., Including the cost of social care - and in some instances, people pay as much as 40% of their income from benefits to councils through social care charging. While the Government has previously encouraged people to seek work as a resolution to their financial woes, for many people with a learning disability this simply isn’t an option. Figures show that only 4.8% of people with a learning disability known to adult social care are currently in work.    

Mary, 67 from Southwark is a full-time carer for her adult daughter Nimali, 41 who has a learning disability. Prior to February 2022, Nimali had never contributed towards her social care, the family received a letter out of the blue from Southwark council informing them that a new charge of £84.02 a week, Mary said:

“I was obviously distressed and called to query the charges, I was told it was for “social care contributions” and that I “shouldn’t have expected it to be free forever.”  

“Nimali’s current social care package is minimal; it covers just two days at a support centre.. Attending the centre is Nimali’s only meaningful social interaction outside of our home. Although she struggles to make friends, she enjoys doing Pilates, dancing and art projects – it also gives me some much-needed respite.  

“My husband and I live off a state pension and we’re increasingly worried about our finances – sometimes we use torches instead of turning on the lights in our house in an attempt to save money. The future feels so bleak for us. Social care costs are only going to go up, not down, and I worry endlessly that things only going to get worse for Nimali.” 

The financial pressures caused by the low levels of Minimum Income Guarantee coupled with the cost-of-living crisis are causing devastation for many people with a learning disability and their families. New statistics from Mencap show the worrying cost of the financial crisis on people with a learning disability, and their carers, families and guardians. 

Over 1000 individuals surveyed via the Mencap website* said they had been worried about money recently, often going to great lengths to manage rising costs. Nearly half (45%) of all respondents have worried about energy bill costs in the last three months**, which rose to over half (55%) of paid carers and parents or guardians of people with a learning disability (53%).  

Edel Harris OBE, Chief Executive of Mencap, said:

“Sadly, we know that people with a learning disability, their families and carers aren’t getting the support they need during this financial crisis and beyond.  

“While the Government’s decision to increase benefits in line with inflation from April 2023 is welcome, they have not yet committed to do the same for the money that care users are left to live on.  

“By not providing a matching uplift to the Minimum Income Guarantee, the Government is failing the 152,000 people with a learning disability who rely on social care. The money people with a learning disability get from their benefits will quickly be swallowed up in social care charging – all because successive governments have shied away from fixing social care. 

"The Government must raise the Minimum Income Guarantee in line with inflation to prevent people on benefits who receive social care facing real-term cuts to their income and falling deeper into financial turmoil.” 

Further stats: 

  • 46% of all respondents have not used the heating even when it is cold 

  • This rises to 56% of paid carers and 52% of parents or guardians of a person with a learning disability 

Mencap’s free helpline service offers advice and support for people with a learning disability, and their families and carers, including information about energy, money and benefits. Call 0808 808 1111 10am to 3pm Monday to Friday or email helpline@mencap.org.uk. Head to Mencap.org.uk/costofliving for more advice and support. 

* https://www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/research-policy/cost-of-living-report/ 

**1276 broken down as people with a learning disability, their carers, parents, guardians or another family member and ‘other’.