Chapter 10 Non-contributory benefits
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Paul Spicker
Abstract
Non-contributory benefits are provided without either a requirement to make a contribution or a means test. The main examples are benefits for people with disabilities, such as Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. Although these benefits were supposed to avoid some of the problems associated with means testing, they have problems of their own, and many of the problems attributed to selective benefits – cost, stigma, low take-up and inequities – apply to these benefits too.
The term ‘non-contributory benefits’ is ambiguous. Taken literally, it could refer to any benefit that is not based on insurance. The Department for Work and Pensions generally uses it to refer to benefits that are not based on insurance or on means testing. This leaves two different kinds of benefit. Some non-contributory benefits are based on a test of some sort, usually a test of need. The most important benefits of this kind are benefits for people with disabilities. Attendance Allowance is the main benefit for disabled people over retirement age – and most disabled people are over retirement age. Despite the name, Attendance Allowance is not actually given for ‘attendance’; it is given for people who need care, which is defined by the disability rather than by the care. Disability Living Allowance is a more complex benefit for disabled people under 65. It has elements both to cover people’s mobility needs and to cover ‘care’, though that really means severe disability – there does not have to be someone who delivers the care. The mobility component is for people who are unable to walk, though the interpretation is broad: the allowance is available to people with learning disabilities with behavioural problems.
Abstract
Non-contributory benefits are provided without either a requirement to make a contribution or a means test. The main examples are benefits for people with disabilities, such as Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. Although these benefits were supposed to avoid some of the problems associated with means testing, they have problems of their own, and many of the problems attributed to selective benefits – cost, stigma, low take-up and inequities – apply to these benefits too.
The term ‘non-contributory benefits’ is ambiguous. Taken literally, it could refer to any benefit that is not based on insurance. The Department for Work and Pensions generally uses it to refer to benefits that are not based on insurance or on means testing. This leaves two different kinds of benefit. Some non-contributory benefits are based on a test of some sort, usually a test of need. The most important benefits of this kind are benefits for people with disabilities. Attendance Allowance is the main benefit for disabled people over retirement age – and most disabled people are over retirement age. Despite the name, Attendance Allowance is not actually given for ‘attendance’; it is given for people who need care, which is defined by the disability rather than by the care. Disability Living Allowance is a more complex benefit for disabled people under 65. It has elements both to cover people’s mobility needs and to cover ‘care’, though that really means severe disability – there does not have to be someone who delivers the care. The mobility component is for people who are unable to walk, though the interpretation is broad: the allowance is available to people with learning disabilities with behavioural problems.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures vii
- About the author viii
- Preface ix
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Introduction: social security benefits in principle
- What is social security? 3
- Social security and the welfare state 11
- Social security and society 21
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The development of the system
- The origins of social security in Britain 35
- The politics of social security 45
- A unified system? 53
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Benefits
- National Insurance 67
- Means-tested benefits: the basic minimum 79
- Means testing: income supplements 89
- Non-contributory benefits 101
- Discretionary benefits 109
- Universal benefits 117
- Claiming benefits 125
- Understanding complexity 137
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The principal contingencies
- Pensioners 149
- Benefits for people with disabilities 163
- Incapacity 175
- Children and families 187
- Lone parents 193
- Unemployed people 201
- Benefits for the poor 213
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Issues in social security policy
- The cost of social security 225
- Targeting 235
- Fraud and abuse 241
- Responding to poverty 249
- Social security and redistribution 259
- How social security in Britain compares to other countries 265
- Social security: a programme for reform 273
- Social security: sources of data 277
- Index 281
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures vii
- About the author viii
- Preface ix
-
Introduction: social security benefits in principle
- What is social security? 3
- Social security and the welfare state 11
- Social security and society 21
-
The development of the system
- The origins of social security in Britain 35
- The politics of social security 45
- A unified system? 53
-
Benefits
- National Insurance 67
- Means-tested benefits: the basic minimum 79
- Means testing: income supplements 89
- Non-contributory benefits 101
- Discretionary benefits 109
- Universal benefits 117
- Claiming benefits 125
- Understanding complexity 137
-
The principal contingencies
- Pensioners 149
- Benefits for people with disabilities 163
- Incapacity 175
- Children and families 187
- Lone parents 193
- Unemployed people 201
- Benefits for the poor 213
-
Issues in social security policy
- The cost of social security 225
- Targeting 235
- Fraud and abuse 241
- Responding to poverty 249
- Social security and redistribution 259
- How social security in Britain compares to other countries 265
- Social security: a programme for reform 273
- Social security: sources of data 277
- Index 281
