Social Protection

International News

Methods for Estimating the Impact of Disability Costs for Designing Inclusive Policies “The method used for examining those extra costs should align with its purpose. For example, analysts should consider whether the aim is to assess the current impact of those expenditures on people’s lives or to determine how social protection programs should be designed.” (2023, Disabilities)

Estimating the Extra Disability Expenditures for the Design of Inclusive Social Protection Policies. “The Goods and Services Required approach, it is argued, is better than the often used Standard of Living Approach, and has implications for policy design.” (2023)

Guidance note for consultation: Towards Inclusive Social Protection Systems Enabling Participation and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (2023, UNICEF / ILO)

Evidence brief on ensuring older men and women with disabilities are equally included in social protection programmes. (2023, Disability Evidence Portal)

Social protection for people with disabilities: A brief overview of global approaches:

“Only one third of persons with severe disability around the world receives a disability-related benefit. Often the design of these benefits is not aligned with international standards.” (2023, ILO)

Working paper on estimating the Extra Costs for Disability for Social Protection Programs. The paper shows how extra costs can vary dramatically, shows methods to estimate extra costs and how social protection programmes can account for them. (2022, ILO and UNICEF)

ILO and UNICEF report on the role of social protection in the elimination of child labour. “Studies from Bangladesh, Nepal and Gansu Province, China, have found that children in households where adults are sick or disabled or have missed work are more likely to be in child labour within or outside the household.” (2022, ILO)

A message to the IMF and World Bank: Targeted Safety Net Programs Fall Short on Rights Protection. (2022, Human Rights Watch)

Coalition of international organizations holding a conference on Disability and Social Protection (2022, Social Protection)

Social Protection and Disability Evidence digest:

'Approaches by governments with schemes labelled for “poor people with severe disabilities who can’t work or care for themselves” have been widely internalised by disability rights activists, who often perceived social protection as demeaning expression charity rather than as rights-based support. [...] As a consequence, in many low- and middle-income countries, the disability movement and their allies did not engage significantly in framing the emergence of social protection systems. ' (2022, SD Direct)

Social protection and access to assistive technology in low- and middle-income countries by friend of the newsletter Alex Cote. (2021, Assistive Technology Journal)

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Latin America and the Caribbean

Disabled people and inclusion in work: the key challenges for social protection systems. (In Spanish, 2023, CEPAL)

The Buenos Aires Committment recognises the importance of autonomy and choice of persons with disabilities in receiving care. (2022, Human Rights Watch)

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Egypt

Cars for disabled people: Government pauses duty-free system for disabled people to import cars, based on perception of its exploitation. (In Arabic, Aug, Aljazeera)

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Ghana

The experience of persons with disabilities as beneficiaries of Ghana’s District Assemblies Common Fund:

“Notwithstanding a number of the access challenges and some disappointing experiences of beneficiaries, they all acknowledged that the programme helped to promote their inclusion into their community and family life, enhanced their dignity and feeling of being valued in the household and community at large. The Fund has assisted beneficiaries to establish small-scale businesses, acquire skills and education, access critical health services, assistive devices among others.” (Apr, Plos One)

‘Enhanced accessibility’ as online application launched for pensioners, persons living with disabilities. (Feb, News Room)

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Kenya

137,119 persons with disability to benefit from Inua Jamii cash transfer programme. (2023, The Star)

Integrated cash transfers promoting inclusion of children with disabilities in Mombasa. (2023, UNICEF)

Supporting children living with disabilities through cash transfers short video feature. (2023, UNICEF)

Social protection for disability inclusion in Kenya See also synthesis paper that compares Uganda and Kenya. (2021, Inclusive Futures)

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Nigeria

Only 4,500 out of 35.1m PWDs in Nigeria officially registered (2023, News Digest)

Nigerian govt dedicates 10% social interventions to PwDs (2023, Daily Nigerian)

Persons With Disability Protest Over Diversion Of Rice and Cash supports (2023, Cross River Watch)

In a leprosy colony residents endure stigma and neglect. “There are 64 leprosy settlements across Nigeria but most are in varying states of disrepair with little to no funding.” The article describes how conditions have deteriorated in one colony since the missionaries who founded the colony then left, but people have remained, and new support is not sufficient. (2022, Aljazeera)

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South Africa

Former Sassa officials jailed for disability grant fraud. “The court heard that the pair had recruited unemployed people from the area, who were not disabled, to apply for disability grants.” (2023, News24)

The support needs of families raising children with intellectual disability. (2022, African Journal on Disability)

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Uganda

Disability Inclusion Lifts Rural Ugandan Families From Poverty description of a poverty-reduction programme by BRAC (2022, Africa.com)

Social protection for disability inclusion in Uganda. See also synthesis paper that compares Uganda and Kenya. (2021, Inclusive Futures)

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Armenia

Corruption and disrespect in the process of disability assessment “The disability assessment process has been considered the most corrupt for many years. There were many stories in the media about this and criminal cases have been initiated.” (2023, Jam News)

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Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan sees significant drop in disability pensioners: What's behind the change?

“In January 2019, there were 390,100 recipients of disability pensions. By January 2024, this number had fallen to 258,700.” (Sep, JAM News)

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Bangladesh

Police intercept disabled people’s demo heading for Prime Minister's Office to demand for a big increase in the disability allowance. (2023, New Age) See also further reaction to the recent budget. (Daily Sun)

People with disabilities demand Tk 2,000 a month (2022, New Age Bd)

Deal inked to introduce ‘Bangabandhu Suraksha Bima’ for people with disabilities
a health insurance introduce for people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. (2022, Business Insider BD)

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China

The effect of a disability-targeted cash transfer program on universal health coverage and universal access to education: A nationwide cohort study of Chinese children and adolescents with disabilities. (2022, The Lancet Regional Health)

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Georgia

Pension or disability assistance: an unfair choice? “an older person with disabilities has to choose to receive either a disability benefit or an old-age pension.” (2022, Development Pathways)

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India

In Tamil Nadu, Unique Disability Identity Cards go missing (2022, DT Next)

Tangled In Red Tape, The Disability ID Card Process Is Steeped With Gender Barriers. As well as some of the expected implementation issues, this in-depth article discusses how "these problems multiply for women and transgender persons with disabilities." (2022, Behan Box)

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Indonesia

Government commits to expanding social assurance coverage for disabled people. (2022, Antara)

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Iran

Disability movement protests for benefits and implementation of law (In Persian, 2023, Ilna)

Protests at non-payment of social protection benefits. (In Persian, 2023, @dscampaign1) See coverage on how the protests may have been attacked by police.

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Iraq

Launch of new initiatives to support people with disabilities. (In Arabic, Feb, Iraqi News Agency)

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Israel

Israeli army veteran awaiting disability recognition commits suicide ”Or Donio takes his own life few days after similar suicide by another veteran over disability recognition” (2023)

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Kyrgyzstan

Applying design thinking to develop new service models for inclusion of working age persons with disabilities in community and labour market. (2023, ILO)

Disability drives innovation in the design of social support services and access to employment programmes in Kyrgyzstan - socialprotection-pfm (2022, SP&PFM)

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Lebanon

The Ministry of Social Affairs Introduces a Social Protection Programme for People with Disabilities. “At least 20,000 individuals will benefit from a monthly allowance of US$40 each over an initial period of 12 months.” (2023, ILO)

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Malaysia

Dubious disabilities, duping doctors “Three doctors and a woman were among 33 people remanded yesterday for falsifying Socso disability claims amounting to RM2.1mil [483,000 USD] since 2017.” (Sep, The Star)

How an OKU card [disability card] benefits persons with disabilities (2022, Free Malaysia Today)

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Maldives

The Impact of the Disability Allowance on Financial Well-Being Quasi-experimental Study:

“Overall, this study found a modest impact of the Disability Allowance, mainly in food security. Receipt of the Disability Allowance was attributable to a decrease in the use of negative coping mechanisms in response to food insecurity and an increase in the food proportion of household consumption expenditures.” (2023, The European Journal of Development Research)

Access to the Disability Allowance in the Maldives: National coverage and factors affecting uptake: “This research found that 25.6% of people with disabilities across the Maldives are receiving the Disability Allowance. Coverage was lowest for women, older adults, people living in the capital (Malé), wealthier households and people with sensory impairments. Factors affecting uptake included lack of information about the programme, perceptions of disability and eligibility criteria, geographical and financial factors, and stigma.” (2022, Global Social Policy)

Process evaluation of the Disability Allowance programme in the Maldives. “Most importantly, the absence of linkages with the Medical Welfare scheme that provides assistive devices potentially limits the likelihood of the programme achieving intended objectives.” (2022, International Social Security Review)

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Oman

Oman unveils platform to offer services for disabled persons (Jun, Muscat Daily)

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Palestine

#PensionsForPalestinians: The story of Mohammad, 68. (2023, Helpage)

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Saudi Arabia

How people with disabilities obtain assistance and the services available. Monthly benefits between 4,000 and 14,000 riyal [1,000 and 3,700 USD]. (In Arabic, Feb, Sabaq24)

More about what Saudi Arabia offers for persons with disabilities (In Arabic, 2023, Alarabiya)

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Sri Lanka

Chaotic Social Security Reform Denies People’s Rights “Aswesuma” Program Applies Complex and Arbitrary Targeting, Leaving Millions in Limbo (2023, Human Rights Watch)

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Thailand

Disabled man pedals his tricycle over 400km to restore his monthly disability allowance of 800 baht [22 USD]. (Feb, Bangkok Post)

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Türkiye

Lower social benefits trouble Türkiye's disabled citizens. “Türkiye's disabled citizens find themselves squeezed between a lack of employment opportunities and declining social benefits.” (2023, Bianet)

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Europe

EU Disability Card goes some way to improving accessibility “EU institutions agreed on 8 February to an EU-wide disability card which aims to facilitate access to the right to free movement for persons with disabilities.” (Feb, Euractiv)

For socially fair European disability cards “The proposal fails however to tackle the key obstacles to freedom of movement for disabled people or to ensure their participation in political decisions which concern them.” (2023, Social Europe)

Proposals for European Disability and Parking Cards “The European Commission has put its disability cards on the table but it is not a full hand.” (2023, Social Europe)

EU’s disability card needs to go beyond good intentions. “Services and advantages differ locally, making the card hard to use, groups argue.” (2023, Politico)

Social protection for people with disabilities An analysis of policies in 35 countries (2023, ESPN) See a summary from EDF.

For a European Disability Card that makes the freedom of movement accessible. (2023, ENIL)

Social Protection and the Welfare State: What the EU can do to support persons with disabilities (2022, EDF)

Rebuilding for sustainability and resilience: strengthening the integrated delivery of long-term care. “ European countries must reorient care models to emphasize person-centredness, user involvement, prevention, healthy ageing and enablement. ” (2022, WHO)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

MPs adopted Amendments to the Law that will significantly increase Disability Benefits up to 80 percent of the minimum wage. (2023, Sarajevo Times)

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Denmark

AI-powered welfare system fuels mass surveillance and risks discriminating against marginalized groups, including people with disabilities. (Nov, Amnesty International)

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Estonia

Põlva social insurance office inaccessible for people with mobility disabilities:

“If a wheelchair user wanted to visit the Social Insurance Board in the Põlva Public Services Building to apply for benefits, they wouldn't even be able to reach the door because the building lacks a ramp.” (Jul, ERR)

Estonian government proposes car tax bill and increased allowances for disabled people. Allowance for working-age people with severe disabilities would change to €49 per month for everyone who is eligible. (Jan, ERR)

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Finland

Disability Tax in the Welfare State: Uncertainty and Resentment about Disability Services in Finland:

“The disability tax experiences are elaborated through four aspects: (1) rejected applications, (2) uncertain realisation, (3) laborious complaint mechanisms, and (4) the psycho–emotional effect. The findings of this study establish collective experiences of multi-layered disability tax throughout the disability services process. It concludes that disability services, which were originally planned to specifically ensure equal opportunities to participate in society for persons with disabilities, are increasingly becoming the very sources of burden as austerity has silently grown deeper over recent years and has become the clear policy of the current government.” (Jun, Disabilities)

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France

“Unacceptable cut” of funding to Agefiph, the agency supporting professional integration of people with disabilities. (In French, Oct, La Croix)

Discriminatory algorithm used by the social security agency must be stopped: It has been condemned by a group of 15 organisations. According to Amnesty International:

“From the outset, the risk-scoring system used by CNAF treats individuals who experience marginalization – those with disabilities, lone single parents who are mostly women, and those living in poverty – with suspicion.” (Oct, Amnesty)

The allowance for disabled adults has been “deconjugalized” meaning that income is assessed on an individual basis rather than together with that of your spouse. (In French, 2023, Handicap.gouv)

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Ireland

Coalition of disability groups set for mass protest outside Dáil against plans to reform welfare payments. (2023, The Irish Times)

People with disabilities shouldn’t have to choose between a relationship and their benefits ‘I’m so excited about getting married, but it means I could lose all my disability allowance’ (2023, Irish Independent)

Each annual budget brings fear. The disability sector is always a target. (2022, The Irish Times)

Data accessed in Rehab disability group cyberattack (2022, Irish Times)

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Malta

Man pocketing disability benefits becomes first person to be jailed. “The social benefits racket saw hundreds of people receiving monthly payments after they used falsified documents to be certified as severely disabled.” (Jan, Newsbook Malta)

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Poland

Disabled people protest outside parliament demanding Polish government fulfil pre-election promise:

“The group’s main demand is that the so-called “social pension”, which is paid to people who are unable to work for health reasons and currently stands at 1,781 zloty (€413) per month, is raised to the level of the minimum wage, which is currently 4,242 zloty (€983) gross per month.” (Mar, Notes from Poland)

Disabled people begin protest in Polish parliament seeking rise in benefits to level of minimum wage. (2023, Notes from Poland)

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Russia

Russia’s Social Insurance Fund stops publishing disability data after journalists used the information to track injured soldiers. (2023, Meduza)

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Spain

The reality of persons with disabilities and non-contributive pensions “they say you can work, but in practice it's not like that.” (In Spanish, 2023, 20 Minutos)

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Sweden

Austerity and identity formation: How welfare cutbacks condition narratives of sickness:

“Interviewees describe extreme stress as a result of their contacts with the Social Insurance Agency (SIA), which results in a perpetual crisis that is renewed with each new denied application. In particular, the sense of not having a future means that it is hard to construct narratives to make sense of one’s situation. To escape the perpetual crisis, some people have politicised their situation, constructing a narrative about themselves as suffering from oppressive politics. Others have escaped by not applying for sick insurance or other social insurances. But generally speaking, the most common effect of being denied sick insurance is an ongoing crisis that leads to deteriorating health.” (2022, Sociology of Health and Illness)

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Ukraine

Top medical official in Kyiv suspected of faking disability certificates for draft-age men (Oct, Kyiv Independent)

Medical and social expert commissions will be liquidated at end of the year, according to presidential decree. (Oct, NikVesti)

More than $450,000 in cash was found in the head of the MSEC held by the head of the MSEC of the Mykolaiv region. (Oct, NikVesti)

Hundreds of Instances of Clearly Unjustified Disabilities address by President Zelenskyy on fraudulent disability status:

“There are hundreds of such instances of clearly unjustified disabilities among officials in Customs, Tax Service, Pension Fund system, and local administrations. All of this needs to be dealt with thoroughly and swiftly. The MSEC system should be abolished.” (Oct, President of Ukraine)

Ukrainian prosecutor general resigns amid scandal over draft exemptions “after corruption scheme involving false disability diagnoses for draft exemptions is uncovered”:

“In early October, it emerged that dozens of public prosecutors in the western region of Khmelnytskyi had falsely been awarded disability permits and were receiving special pensions.” (Oct, Aljazeera)

Ukraine’s top prosecutor falls on sword amid fake disabilities scam:

“Overall, some 64 state medical commissioners have been issued with ‘notes of suspicion,’ the Ukraine equivalent of criminal charges that have not yet been tried in court. Some 4,000 disability certificates were canceled after the audit, SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said Tuesday.” (Oct, Politico)

Disability Certificates Scandal: What Led to the Prosecutor General’s Resignation and What’s Next? In-depth report. (Oct, Kyiv Post)

Acting head of MSEC detained in Kyiv for extorting $10,000:

“According to the police, the official set up an illegal scheme to extort bribes from citizens for passing medical examinations and assigning them a disability group. This would further enable persons liable for military service to avoid mobilization.” (Sep, UNN)

Doctor issued false disability documents for a reward:

“It is noted that she involved doctors from various health care institutions in Lviv in illegal activities. They issued false conclusions about the health status of "patients", on the basis of which men received disabilities.

The cost of "services" for one person was 7 thousand US dollars. According to available data, the scheme has been operating since last fall, and a large number of persons liable for military service were able to obtain a "fake" disability. The "clients" were not only from Lviv region, but also from all over Ukraine.” (Apr, UNN)

Everyone who has received disability since 2022 must undergo re-examination “After 24 February 2022, the number of people with Group II and III disabilities increased dramatically. And there are doubts whether all of them received this disability as a result of real injuries or illnesses.” (Mar, Censor.net)

Corruption scheme exposed in Zaporizhzhia: “police uncovered a corruption scheme to issue fake disability certificates to military personnel worth $3,500”. (Mar, UNN)

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United Kingdom

Hidden behind this budget is a terrible bombshell: billions in cuts for disabled people. (Nov, Guardian)

Reality of DWP benefits system: 'I'm going to die and can't get PIP' extract from the Department, a new book from John Pring, editor of the Disability News Service. (Aug, See also the Department Book.)

Growing pressures Exploring trends in children’s disability benefits, a report:

“Over the last decade, the number of under-16s in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in England and Wales has doubled, reaching 682,000 in 2023, equivalent to one-in-sixteen children. This growing caseload has been driven almost entirely by awards made to children whose main condition is either a learning difficulty, behavioural disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): in 2023, four-fifths of all Child DLA awards were for children whose main condition was one of these three.” (Aug, Resolution Foundation)

Sample of disabled people forced onto universal credit shows every one of them now receives less in benefits. (Jul, Disability News Service)

“Under strain” Investigating trends in working-age disability and incapacity benefits. (Jun, Resolution Foundation)

Swapping payments for vouchers won’t fix disability benefits. “Ongoing benefit payments should relate to actual costs in life and protect people from slipping into poverty.” (May, The Conversation)

I did ‘fit for work’ tests for the Department of Work and Pensions. “Many times my decision was that the person was fit for work on DWP criteria, but privately I would not dream of employing them myself.” (May, the Guardian)

Almost no cases of disability benefit fraud despite DWP crackdown “The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released new statistics showing that fraud in the disability benefits system is a 'non-issue'” (May, Big Issue)

Disabled people are trying to tell us how benefits system is killing them. “Dr China Mills shares her experiences of pulling together decades of evidence of deaths, protests and failures in the disability benefits system for a new timeline which holds the government to account” (2023, Big Issue)

UK’s new back to work plan will make life even harder for disabled people “As part of these plans, the government is planning to implement tougher sanctions for people who are judged to not be taking appropriate steps to secure work. The proposed punitive measures include suspending benefit claims altogether and stopping access to free medical prescriptions and legal aid.” (2023, The Conversation)

Activists raise concerns over human rights record “of the outsourcing company that defeated Atos in the battle for a multi-million-pound disability benefits assessment contract.” (2023, Disability News Service)

The commodification of social security medical assessments —academic analysis and practitioner experience. (2023, Public Money and Management)

What would a fair disability benefits assessment look like? “It is apparent that the current disability benefits process isn’t working, so we asked the experts what a fair system would look like, and whether that could exist at all.” (2023, Big Issue)

The tragic deaths the British press is reluctant to cover exploring deaths linked to cuts in government benefits. (2023, Columbia Journalism Review)

A decade after the Tories demonised disabled people on benefits, it’s happening again. (2023, the Guardian) See also: open letter from Scope.

Social care costs see thousands chased for debt. “More than 60,000 adults with disabilities and long-term illnesses in England were chased for debts by councils last year after failing to pay for their social care support at home.” (2023, BBC)

UK government errors denied thousands disability benefits: “Campaigners hit out after data reveals majority of successful appeals were due to Department for Work and Pensions mistakes” (2022, the Guardian)

Five-month disability benefits delay causing hardship (2022, the Guardian)

Government spent £440m fighting disability claimants as whistleblowers claim system broken. (2022, ITV)

Secret DWP report reveals unmet needs of disability benefit claimants (2022, Disability News Service)

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Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador launching disability benefit to top up federal program and create basic income. (Jun, Toronto Star)

B.C. professor quits federal panel in protest of Ottawa's new disability benefit. “The new benefit will provide a maximum annual benefit of $2,400 per year, or $200 per month, to eligible applicants.” (Apr, Global News)

Ontario quadriplegic mother applies for MAID over lack of access to disability supports. (2023, Global News)

Canada Disability Benefit Act “enables the Government of Canada to create and deliver a new benefit to working-age persons with disabilities in Canada.” (2023, Government of Canada) Seen as a “game changer” for people with disabilities living in poverty. (Disability Without Poverty)

What happened to the Canada Disability Benefit? “It is 2022, the election has been won and done, and as the cynics predicted, the Canada Disability Benefit is still nowhere to be seen.” (2022, Canada's National Observer)

This woman with disabilities gets only $1,169 a month. She hopes the Ontario election changes that. (2022, CBC)

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Honduras

People with disabilities protest in Choluteca, demanding fulfillment of state promises. “Those affected indicate that they require wheelchairs, vouchers, food, medicines and other supplies, which, despite requests sent to the authorities, have not been given a response.” (In Spanish, Jan, HCH)

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Mexico

Workers with disabilities without social protection. (In Spanish, 2023, Yo También)

Irregularities in Teletón and benefits for the wellbeing of people with permanent disabilities. Also: what Teleton owes us. (In Spanish, 2023, Yo También)

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United States

This disabled woman built a career. SSI once helped but now penalizes her. (Oct, NPR)

The Connection Between Social Security Disability Benefits and Health Coverage Through Medicaid and Medicare. (Oct, KFF)

Health Disparities in the Medical Record and Disability Determinations: Proceedings of a Workshop:

“When people with disabilities are denied the care they need, it is difficult for them to get the information they need into their medical record so they can successfully go through the disability determination process.” (Aug, National Academies Press)

They rely on Social Security. But the agency took their much-needed benefits away because of a $2,000 asset limit. (Jun, NPR)

Couples say they can't get married because of the outdated rules of Social Security's Supplemental Security Income program. (Jun, NPR)

Social Security to Simplify Disability Evaluation Process: “the agency is proud to announce changes that will reduce administrative burdens for applicants and help more people with disabilities receive government benefits and services if they are eligible”. (Jun, Social Security Matters)

Social Security ditches obsolete jobs data used to deny disability claims:

“For decades, the Social Security Administration has denied thousands of people disability benefits by claiming they could find jobs that have all but vanished from the U.S. economy — such occupations as nut sorter, pneumatic tube operator and microfilm processor.” (Jun, Washington Post)

The safety net program trapping people in poverty article exploring Supplemental Security Income. “Imagine you have to stop working for whatever reason, but legally you’ve only been allowed to build up $2,000 in savings.” (Apr, Vox)

States offer services for disabled kids, then make their families wait 10 years for them. “Across the U.S., hundreds of thousands of children, adolescents and young adults with physical or intellectual disabilities are waiting for state-covered services.” (Feb, PBS NewsHour)

Why Social Security Disability Claims Are Taking So Long It takes the Social Security Administration 228 to process an initial application, double what it was before the covid pandemic. (Jan, AARP)

Toward economic security: 2023 progress report on the Impact of Income and Asset Limits on People with Disabilities:

“As asset and income limits haven’t been scaled to inflation or revised even a penny in 34 years, it means people with disabilities have been forced, by federal policy, to be poorer and poorer, year over year, to qualify for critical supports and services,” said NCD Council member Theo Braddy. “Federal disability policies should be about helping people live independently, get to work, and get out of poverty. The current asset and income limits ensure the opposite.” (2023, National Council on Disability)

Disability advocates are staging a mass commitment ceremony to raise awareness about marriage penalties. “there are marriage penalties baked into existing benefit programs related to income. These rules prohibit people with disabilities from marrying not explicitly, but implicitly because they would no longer be eligible for benefits.” (2023, the 19th) See photos and report in the New York Times.

Review of Todd Carmody's book Work Requirements on Race, Disability, and the Print Culture of Social Welfare. “For Carmody, there is a direct line that connects the victimization of those at the periphery in early America with the current ideological divide that separates morally superior workers from the lazy, no-good, physically and mentally ill, criminal, visible minorities of American society.” (2023, H-Disability)

New bill aims to help low-income people with disabilities save money “The legislation would create a federal dollar-for-dollar match of up to $2,000 for new and existing ABLE accounts for individuals who earn $28,000 or less per year.” (2023, CNBC)

The Application Process for Disability Benefits Shuts Out People in Need “Most who apply for disability benefits are initially turned down. In fact, as per the SSA, only about a third on average get approved on their first try applying for SSDI, and the percentage of those who are initially approved has decreased each year.” (2023, The Century Foundation)

Booting 18-Year-Olds From Disability Rolls “About 80,000 kids on SSI turn 18 each year, and, like Gabriel, about half will lose benefits.” And it has has lifelong consequences: “Youth who lost benefits at 18 were twice as likely to be charged with a crime as they were to hold a job.” (2023, Mother Jones)

Social Security may be failing well over a million people with disabilities – and COVID-19 is making the problem worse.

“The data showed that the share of people with substantial work-limiting disabilities who received Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income benefits or both rose from 32% in 1998 to 47% in 2016, which was the last year the data was available. This is just a little above the average among 27 high-income countries I compared the data with.” (2023, The Conversation)

Long Covid disabled them. Then they met a 'broken' Social Security disability process. (2023, CNN Business)

A Framework for Evaluating the Adequacy of Disability Benefit Programs and its Application to the U.S. Social Security Disability Programs. “The results indicate that more than 50 percent of older adults of working-age with work-disabilities in the U.S. do not receive SSD benefits, though rates of benefit receipt are higher than the average across other high-income countries” (2023, Journal of Social Policy)

Social Security disability benefit offices reach breaking point with huge claim backlogs. “State operations that review claims face massive backlogs, leaving disabled Americans waiting months and even years for judgments” (2022, Washington Post)

How Dehumanizing Administrative Burdens Harm Disabled People: “All of the systems are set up to really dehumanize disabled people and not to help us.” (2022, Center for American Progress)

Social Security uses obsolete job titles to deny benefits to disabled applicants. (2022, Washington Post)

‘Impending Intergenerational Crisis’: Americans With Disabilities Lack Long-Term Care Plans. (2022, Kaiser Health News)

Disabled Woman Seeks Marriage Equality From Social Security Administration – Files Religious Freedom and Due Process Complaint. “The law cuts off Long’s access to life-saving benefits if she marries. The complaint alleges that the law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the U.S. Constitution.” (2022, DREDF)

A disability program promised to lift people from poverty. Instead, it left many homeless. (2022, Salon)

‘People will die waiting’. America’s system for the disabled is nearing collapse: “Providers for intellectually and developmentally disabled struggle to recruit and retain staff amid soaring inflation, pandemic burnout.” (2022, Politico)

Inside the Kafkaesque Process for Determining Who Gets Federal Disability Benefits. (2022, Mother Jones)

The Impacts of Disability Benefits on Employment and Crime Discontinuing benefits for children with disabilities as they become adults “increased criminal charges substantially“. (2022, NBER)

Ending the Two-Tier System of Disability Benefits. If you're not already familiar with how Supplemental Security Income (SSI) works, this article has the gruesome lowdown: benefits below the federal poverty line, and you are ineligible to receive them if you don't have other earnings or assets over $2000. (2022, Brown Political Review) See more on how policy punishes disabled people who save more than $2,000 from Full Stack Economics.

Data breach may have exposed personal information of Oklahomans on disability aid list (2022, The Oklahoman)

Millions of disabled Americans could lose federal benefits if they get married (2022, NPR)

Tax authorities raise limit allowed benefit recipients in saving accounts (2022, Disability Scoop)

One of the awful features of some disability-related benefits is a limit of the assets that a recipient can have. California just raised the assets limits for medicare from 2000 USD to 130,000 USD. (link to pdf, 2021, State of California)

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Australia

‘Sex work is decriminalised – and my time with Samuel is subsidised by the government’: “Susan is paraplegic and Samuel is her support worker – it’s just that his support comes in the shape of four-hour sessions in a motel room” (Jun, the Guardian)

Disability service fined $1.8m after woman dies from burns suffered during bath. (Apr, 9News)

Accessing Formal Supports in Australia: The Experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Women with Disabilities. (2023, Women With Disabilities Australia)

Working together to deliver the NDIS an independent review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme. “People with disability must be at the centre of the NDIS. But more than that, they must be at the centre of a new comprehensive disability support ecosystem.” (2023, Australian Government)

Lifeboat in the ocean: lessons from Australia Debrief exploration on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2023, Disability Debrief)

The NDIS Song

“what am I pissed about?
oh can you guess
what makes me scream and shout
it's the ndis” (2023, Nell Tyler Original Song)

Redesigning the NDIS an intersectional perspective on an Australian disability support system, and the need for “radical transformation”. (2023, DANA)

Careless: How the NDIS fails to protect our most vulnerable “This week's Four Corners exposes criminals, opportunists and registered providers who have been busted exploiting loopholes to overcharge and defraud the NDIS.” (2023, ABC News)

The disability paradox:

“I could go around all day with a support worker and be safe and supported. And I could continually scout ahead to locate the limited places that are accessible and go only there. But I don’t want to be confined to my own little lifeboat. I want my community to be open to all and inclusive. I want to get bogged at a beach in my wheelchair and know people will help. I want to push into a crowded, heaving mosh pit and join the other dancers.” (2023, the Guardian)

Clinic associated with cult that teaches that people with disability are experiencing 'karma' receives thousands in NDIS funds. (2023, ABC News)

Public Advocate leaves woman with dementia without heart monitor for 18 months. “The state controls her mother’s life. Katelyn’s fighting desperately to get it back.” (2023, ABC News)

Disability assessments and the algorithmic veil: lessons from the abandoned ‘independent assessments’ proposal for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. “This article concludes by asking what a rights-based disability assessment looks like, while critically examining the limits of a narrow focus on disability assessment methodology.” (2023, Australian Journal of Human Rights)

The government says NDIS supports should be ‘evidence-based’ – but can they be? (2023, The Conversation)

NDIS Review – Have your say: a snapshot of what we’ve heard so far. (2023, NDIS Review)

NDIS participants 'kidnapped' and financially abused in boarding homes for people with disability, report finds. For example ‘being "coaxed" into changing accommodation and service providers "through offers of fast-food 'treats' like KFC and McDonalds".’ (2023, ABC News)

NDIS must focus on ‘outcomes, not just providing services’ (2023, Nation)

Suggesting NDIS cuts to pay for expensive submarines is the latest attack on disabled people. “The last few weeks have seen an intensification of the predicted pre-federal budget attacks on the NDIS, with a wide range of articles and interviews being published, and the conservative social media in full agreement. These pieces are often shared alongside disgusting slurs against disabled people.” (2023, the Guardian)

“There’s been no apology for a mistake that nearly killed me.” The disability community speaks out on Robodebt. (2023, Hireup)

Disability services need to employ more people with lived experience. “New research from the University of Sydney finds almost a quarter of Australian disability services do not employ any people with disability, and 20% employ less than three people with disability.” (2023, Phys Org)

NDIS funding isn't just a one-way street – it helps participants secure work and give back to the economy. “I was disabled enough to actually qualify for the Paralympics, but not disabled enough to qualify for any assistance on the NDIS” (2022, ABC News)

Two-year wait for a wheelchair: inquiry hears of difficulty accessing NDIS for remote Indigenous communities (2022, the Guardian)

Hackers Steal a ‘Very Large’ Batch of Private Data from Australia’s Disability Scheme: “this kind of data breach puts vulnerable people at serious risk of identity theft, fraud, and scams,” (2022, Vice)

Two directors of care provider charged with criminal neglect over death of Ann Marie Smith. (2022, the Guardian)

When is a condition 'chronic' and when is it a 'disability'? The definition can determine the support you get (2022, the Conversation)

Concern millions of Australians with disability not on the NDIS have been 'forgotten' (2022, ABC News)

National Disability Insurance Agency scrutinised woman’s social media posts to challenge her eligibility for the scheme (2022, the Guardian)

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New Zealand

Dreams, realities, and the broken promises of disability support. (Aug, RNZ)

Disabled people deserve a meaningful place of our own. “The decision to downsize Whaikaha and strip it of its responsibility for delivering support services has outraged disabled people, who fought for decades for a ministry of their own, writes Robyn Hunt.” (Aug, The Spinoff)

Concerns raised over Māori and Pasifika disability support in restructure of Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People:

“We don’t know if the Māori voice around disabilities will continue, because we’re not sitting at decision-making tables, and that’s where we all need to be.” (Aug, Te Ao Māori News)

What happens when disabled people lose flexible funding “An announcement, then the fallout” (Jun, The Spinoff)

Why we cannot let the disability support changes happen. (Mar, RNZ News)

Big gap in support funding between disabled people on Ministry of Health and the national accident compensation scheme. (2022, Stuff)

Removing Disabling Experiences a vision for a person-directed system that will “provide four enforceable rights to social and income support, habilitation, and healthcare.” (2022, Warren Forster)

How the government asked for social welfare advice, got it, ignored it, and the impact on people with disabilities. (2022, Stuff)

Disabled people missing out on 'essential' support over relationship status (2022, Stuff)

We need a welfare system that works better for people with disabilities (2022)

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Argentina

Argentina will issue disability certificates that don't expire an interview with Luis Juez: “bureaucracy hurts”. (In Spanish, 2023, Yo También)

Good news on disability: non-contributory pension scheme for persons with disabilities. (In Spanish, 2023, CTA)

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Colombia

Food voucher programme for people with disabilities (In Spanish, Mar, el Caribe)

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Paraguay

Disabled people chain themselves together to demand state pensions: asking for a benefit of 25% of the minimum wage to those “who really need it”. (In Spanish, Nov, ABC)

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