Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
Agreed. Benefits, even sickness and disablement benefits, can and should only ever provide a basic standard of support in order to prevent poverty and penury.
It is impossible for the State to fund people up to the level of their expected standard of living absent any disability or other disadvantage.
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Disability benefits DO only provide basic support and it is this basic level of support that is further under threat.
For example, someone needing 24 hour care should be entitled to the highest rate of care support from DLA or PIP. This amount is currently £81.30 a week. If they employed a carer, even on the minimum wage of £6.50 an hour, this equates to under 13 hours a week.
That's less than 2 hours a day for someone to help a person get out of bed, dress, cook, feed, toilet, shave, do the shopping, bath/shower (which inevitably takes longer) and get ready for bed again. There is simply no slack to pay for time for luxury activities, in fact, due to a combination of cuts to support, many disabled people now regularly have to choose to eat or take care of their personal hygiene.