In the film, we say that 7 per cent of working-age people in the country are on sickness benefit. That's true on average, but regional variations are huge. We open the film in Boston in Lincolnshire which has seen the fastest rise in sickness benefit. In some parts of Glasgow and Grimsby, almost a third of the working-age population are on sickness benefit. In South Kensington in London, it's 2 per cent. The geographical disparity of this benefit has never been explored before: the below charts show the picture for the first time.
The above shows two lines: all of those on sickness benefits (including in-work) and those on out-of-work sickness benefits which is the focus of the film. We avoided filming in areas whose deprivation has been most publicised (Easterhouse in Glasgow, Merthyr Tydfil in Wales etc). The aim is to highlight the effect of welfare dysfunction in places like the south coast of England, the outskirts of Manchester etc.
Methodology The above chart is compiled using three indices. First, UK neighborhoods are ranked using the government's Index of Multiple Deprivation. Next, figures for each neighbourhood are drawn from DWP Stat-Xplore database and finally, a ratio is produced by applying ONS estimates for working-age population. There is a data lag: the DWP data is for Feb24, queried in Nov24. The latest population estimates are for mid-2022 and IMD was last updated in 2019. So the above index should be seen as indicative, rather than definitive. Lack of coherent, regularly-updated data is a feature of this debate: itself a reflection of the general low priority placed on understanding these issues. The shape of the graph, however, will be a fair reflection of the vast geographical disparity.
The below map shows the average number on out-of-work sickness benefit by local authority. It ranges from under 2 per cent in London's central financial district (City of London) to nearly 17 per cent in Blaenau Gwent in Wales.
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