Men and women in former industrial areas are in head-on competition for employment as men increasingly take on jobs formerly seen as “women's work”, squeezing female counterparts out of the labour market and on to incapacity benefit, according to a report published today.
The findings by academics at Sheffield Hallam and Dundee universities indicate how difficult it will be for the government to hit its target of a 1m cut in the number on incapacity benefit by welfare reform alone.
Britain has 2.6m incapacity claimants of working age, including nearly 1.1m women. The benefit is higher than jobseekers' allowance and does not require claimants to look for work.