Government has published today evidence of an increase in the number of pensioners and children living in poverty in the UK. The measure used is based on a level of less than 60% of average income. Rising utility, fuel and food prices affect us all, as everybody has to eat and keep warm. 

However, there is a major omission here. The media and Government again haven’t mentioned the Disabled in the poverty category, even though many of us, especially those on welfare benefits, also meet the criteria for inclusion in the poverty measure. The Leonard Cheshire Charity produced a report in January this year on the subject, which doesn’t seem to have warranted any comment. I was wondering why this is. Yes, there are often stories of misuse of Blue Badges and benefit fraud amongst those with a disability, but no publicity about the choices between essentials such as heating and food that we disabled also have to make along with pensioners and families on very low incomes.

The Government seems to have adopted a “let’s sweep this under the carpet” attitude because it seems enough to pay lip service to disability equality without committing resources to solving the problem. I know, with the credit crunch, money is tight, but at least acknowledge our poverty and vulnerability too and not pretend we don’t exist – we have enough of that in our daily lives despite the Disability Discrimination Act and the Equalities Commission…