The government must step up support for the 1.5 million people with a learning disability living in the UK.
The cost of living crisis is tough for everyone, but it can be even harder for people with a learning disability, many of whom are on low incomes, rely on disability benefits, and who need support to be able to budget and navigate complex information from energy suppliers.
- Disabled people pay, on average, £583 a month more than non-disabled people to live the same quality of life.
- Only 5.1% of people with a learning disability known to adult social care are in work.
- Over 60% people who were referred to foodbanks in early 2020 were disabled.
- Some people with a learning disability pay 40% of their income from benefits to councils through social care charging.
The government’s interventions to date are short-term solutions to long-term problems.
They will not cushion people with a learning disability and their families from the combined rising costs of food and energy, let alone the additional costs that come with having a learning disability in the first place. Without urgent action, people with a learning disability will be priced out and forgotten.