Disability benefits in various countries?
ConceptuallyCurious wrote:
My ipad glitched and deleted my message, but I wanted to emphasise that things in the UK are becoming very difficult for those with disabilities as the government is hellbent on painting the disabled as feckless and lazy.
£75 is not the lowest rate of DLA - I get a bit more than that a month. It is, however, non-means tested.
DLA is being phased out and it's substitute, PIP, requires people to be more disabled. Furthermore, lifetime awards are no longer permitted and even the most profoundly disabled must be regularly assessed to ensure they haven't improved and dropped subthreshold.
DLA was based off descriptions of disability, so it didn't require a diagnosis but as even truly diagnosed individuals could be rejected and have to appeal (my mum had to appeal for me and I've since been put on a lifetime award except that it's not because soon I'll have to change to PIP). In practice this means it is based on reports from professionals about the difficulties a person faces in various activities.
PIP, by contrast, includes assessments by undertrained people from a private company that was contracted to reduce the welfare bill.
The pot for help to get reasonable adjustments at work has been axed.
And the payments for those who cannot work Incapacity Benefit/Employment Support Allowance (renamed as the latter to remind the scum what they ought to be doing) is undeniably aimed to get as many people removed from it as possible - 90 people a month are dying after being deemed 'fit for work'. The information has only just been released after the government were forced into doing so - they've been blocking the Freedom of Information request for some time.
All in all, the UK is facing a United Nations inquiry into violations of the human rights of disabled people.
£75 is not the lowest rate of DLA - I get a bit more than that a month. It is, however, non-means tested.
DLA is being phased out and it's substitute, PIP, requires people to be more disabled. Furthermore, lifetime awards are no longer permitted and even the most profoundly disabled must be regularly assessed to ensure they haven't improved and dropped subthreshold.
DLA was based off descriptions of disability, so it didn't require a diagnosis but as even truly diagnosed individuals could be rejected and have to appeal (my mum had to appeal for me and I've since been put on a lifetime award except that it's not because soon I'll have to change to PIP). In practice this means it is based on reports from professionals about the difficulties a person faces in various activities.
PIP, by contrast, includes assessments by undertrained people from a private company that was contracted to reduce the welfare bill.
The pot for help to get reasonable adjustments at work has been axed.
And the payments for those who cannot work Incapacity Benefit/Employment Support Allowance (renamed as the latter to remind the scum what they ought to be doing) is undeniably aimed to get as many people removed from it as possible - 90 people a month are dying after being deemed 'fit for work'. The information has only just been released after the government were forced into doing so - they've been blocking the Freedom of Information request for some time.
All in all, the UK is facing a United Nations inquiry into violations of the human rights of disabled people.
This is horrific. Things are getting worse here in the states too.
ASPartOfMe
Veteran

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 38,085
Location: Long Island, New York
In the UK the average waiting time for a child to get diagnosed is 3 1/2 years.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34095075
_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Sweetleaf wrote:
SSI disability is even worse, you get 733 usd a month, you currently automatically can get food stamps and medicaid(at least for now) because it such a low income. really though 733$ 'hey here's 3 bucks'....why not just 730 or 735, but 3 such an odd number. But I'd be curious to know how this sort of thing works in other countries as well.
That amount varies quite a bit, depending on a lot of factors, including what state you live in, and how much SSDI benefits you get. I get $753 a month here in Oregon, plus $100 in food stamps. I have a federally subsidized apartment, which I pay $135 a month for. I have a free lifeline cell phone. So the only things I have to pay for are my electricity, internet, insurance, gas and maintenance for my car, and food not covered by the measly $100 in food stamps.
Overall I can't complain, except about the food stamps. That should be at least $200 a month for everyone. How can any one eat for less then $200 a month? Thats just crazy. Can't really save up any money this way, but as you pointed out in another post, they limit how much money you can save anyway.
0regonGuy wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
Can't really save up any money this way, but as you pointed out in another post, they limit how much money you can save anyway.
I'm allowed to have maximum total savings of $4000 on EIA. It was $5000 on CPP Dis.
I learned that they don't count Gold coins, so if you have any you don't have to claim it/them.
However a couple of years ago I used up a lot of that $4000+ due to waiting to get onto EIA Disability... Regular EIA pays $550/month (includes Housing), and I couldn't live on that. So I had to regularly withdrawal $100-$200 just to feed myself.
I think TPTB like it when poor people have no money.
When I was working full time (up till 2011), I had $24,000 saved up for Retirement. That's mostly all gone now.
_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 123 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 116 of 200
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits
mr_bigmouth_502
Veteran

Joined: 12 Dec 2013
Age: 31
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 7,028
Location: Alberta, Canada
LilZebra wrote:
Between October 2013 and February 2014 I was on plain social assistance. I got $550/month ($285+60 for Rent, the rest for Food). My rent at the time was $400.
Between March 2013 and October 2014 I was on EIA Disability where I got approx. $1040/month ($365 for Rent, the rest was for Food). Rent from March 2013 to August 2014 was $400. Rent from August 2014 to current is $425. Both are renting part of a house.
Was diagnosed with AS in October 2013 but it was 6 mos. after that that I actually got EIA Disability. I feel like a mouse that a cat is being played with.
Between November 2014 and June 2015 I was forced to apply for and get CPP (Canada Pension Plan) Disability. I was getting ($754+$300=$1054). Rent is $425 (same as previous).
June 2015 to current...back on EIA Disability. Getting $1097/month. Rent is still $425. Rest is for food.
My Diabetes meds. are all paid for and I get a monthly transit pass (worth $86). I also get a "Diabetes special diet" (worth $80). This is included in the $1097/month I get now.
When I was working and sometimes when I was getting unemployment insurance, I found (10 yrs. ago) that I could live comfortably between $1100 and $1400 per month. So for me anything below that is "poverty".
I always intend on saving at least $100 to my RSP out of this, but with current food prices it is quite impossible. Plus I have no one to cook for me and sometimes I get tired of doing that, so I go out to eat at the cost of $15-30 per meal. The money I get sometimes runs out before I get my next cheque, and I don't drive nor smoke nor do I do drugs.
I've heard about something called the Guaranteed Annual Income. Basically the idea is to pay people approx. $20 K/yr to be on assistance and their lives will be enriched because they can more easily afford Housing, attend Entertainment events like Concerts & Movies. It was tried right here in a part of Manitoba Canada in 1974 as a trial, but no politician has gone with it permanently. I think it would reduce the crime rate because those in poverty tend to be the ones who do the crimes. I think it would raise mental health because people would be able to do more stuff they wanna do like attend concerts & movies, perhaps travel a bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_Annual_Income
Between March 2013 and October 2014 I was on EIA Disability where I got approx. $1040/month ($365 for Rent, the rest was for Food). Rent from March 2013 to August 2014 was $400. Rent from August 2014 to current is $425. Both are renting part of a house.
Was diagnosed with AS in October 2013 but it was 6 mos. after that that I actually got EIA Disability. I feel like a mouse that a cat is being played with.
Between November 2014 and June 2015 I was forced to apply for and get CPP (Canada Pension Plan) Disability. I was getting ($754+$300=$1054). Rent is $425 (same as previous).
June 2015 to current...back on EIA Disability. Getting $1097/month. Rent is still $425. Rest is for food.
My Diabetes meds. are all paid for and I get a monthly transit pass (worth $86). I also get a "Diabetes special diet" (worth $80). This is included in the $1097/month I get now.
When I was working and sometimes when I was getting unemployment insurance, I found (10 yrs. ago) that I could live comfortably between $1100 and $1400 per month. So for me anything below that is "poverty".
I always intend on saving at least $100 to my RSP out of this, but with current food prices it is quite impossible. Plus I have no one to cook for me and sometimes I get tired of doing that, so I go out to eat at the cost of $15-30 per meal. The money I get sometimes runs out before I get my next cheque, and I don't drive nor smoke nor do I do drugs.
I've heard about something called the Guaranteed Annual Income. Basically the idea is to pay people approx. $20 K/yr to be on assistance and their lives will be enriched because they can more easily afford Housing, attend Entertainment events like Concerts & Movies. It was tried right here in a part of Manitoba Canada in 1974 as a trial, but no politician has gone with it permanently. I think it would reduce the crime rate because those in poverty tend to be the ones who do the crimes. I think it would raise mental health because people would be able to do more stuff they wanna do like attend concerts & movies, perhaps travel a bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_Annual_Income
Some people may cry foul about it, but I think a guaranteed livable income would be a great idea for Canadians, not just for the reasons you mentioned, but also because it would help students, single mothers, people with mental health issues, and other disadvantaged groups. It would have to be done in a transitional manner though, since a lot of minimum wage workers would have to be replaced with robotic labour. It would require a paradigm shift in society, but I think the results in the end would be great.
mr_bigmouth_502
Veteran

Joined: 12 Dec 2013
Age: 31
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 7,028
Location: Alberta, Canada
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
Canadian here, through AiSH, an Alberta government program, I get $1588 a month. It's not bad, but my rent eats up most of it, so I have to be very careful with what I do with the rest. Still, it's better than what I was getting before through Income Support, which is intended more as a short term solution for people either in between jobs or awaiting AiSH.

Not bad? That's ridiculously good! Most full time workers I know don't even make that. Heck, I know people with 3 university degrees who barely make that!
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
I often wonder how AiSH compares to the programs they have in other provinces.
AISH provides the highest living allowance of any disability support program in Canada.
_________________
"Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." -- Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
Love transcends all.
LilZebra wrote:
0regonGuy wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
Can't really save up any money this way, but as you pointed out in another post, they limit how much money you can save anyway.
I'm allowed to have maximum total savings of $4000 on EIA. It was $5000 on CPP Dis.
I learned that they don't count Gold coins, so if you have any you don't have to claim it/them.
That's interesting. The US government even counts cash, so I'm pretty sure they count gold coins too.
Then main exclusions for the SSI asset limit is one home and one car. The best as I can tell there are no limits to the value of your home or car. Which is why I believe there are reports of people living on SSI having luxury cars and homes. Which is probably legal. The problem I see, is how do you even save up the money to buy a car, let alone a home, when you can only have $2000 in cash. I guess each time you manage to save $2000 you could use it to trade in your car for one $2000 more expensive. If you could do that once every year, in 25 years you could own a $50,000 car. Then you could sell it and use the money to by a cheap trailer home or something, and start over with another $2000 car.
Of course for that to work you would have to live on beans, rice and potatoes in bulk.

GiantHockeyFan wrote:
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
Canadian here, through AiSH, an Alberta government program, I get $1588 a month. It's not bad, but my rent eats up most of it, so I have to be very careful with what I do with the rest. Still, it's better than what I was getting before through Income Support, which is intended more as a short term solution for people either in between jobs or awaiting AiSH.

Not bad? That's ridiculously good! Most full time workers I know don't even make that. Heck, I know people with 3 university degrees who barely make that!
People with 3 degrees don't make $1600 a month full time in Canada? $1600 Canadian is around £800 GPB - an unskilled minimum wage job would pay 50% more than that in the UK. Canada must have a very low cost of living if people are routinely living on $1500 a month, here in the UK it would be hard not to spend over half that amount on rent alone.
LilZebra wrote:
Between October 2013 and February 2014 I was on plain social assistance. I got $550/month ($285+60 for Rent, the rest for Food). My rent at the time was $400.
Between March 2013 and October 2014 I was on EIA Disability where I got approx. $1040/month ($365 for Rent, the rest was for Food). Rent from March 2013 to August 2014 was $400. Rent from August 2014 to current is $425. Both are renting part of a house.
Was diagnosed with AS in October 2013 but it was 6 mos. after that that I actually got EIA Disability. I feel like a mouse that a cat is being played with.
Between November 2014 and June 2015 I was forced to apply for and get CPP (Canada Pension Plan) Disability. I was getting ($754+$300=$1054). Rent is $425 (same as previous).
June 2015 to current...back on EIA Disability. Getting $1097/month. Rent is still $425. Rest is for food.
My Diabetes meds. are all paid for and I get a monthly transit pass (worth $86). I also get a "Diabetes special diet" (worth $80). This is included in the $1097/month I get now.
When I was working and sometimes when I was getting unemployment insurance, I found (10 yrs. ago) that I could live comfortably between $1100 and $1400 per month. So for me anything below that is "poverty".
I always intend on saving at least $100 to my RSP out of this, but with current food prices it is quite impossible. Plus I have no one to cook for me and sometimes I get tired of doing that, so I go out to eat at the cost of $15-30 per meal. The money I get sometimes runs out before I get my next cheque, and I don't drive nor smoke nor do I do drugs.
I've heard about something called the Guaranteed Annual Income. Basically the idea is to pay people approx. $20 K/yr to be on assistance and their lives will be enriched because they can more easily afford Housing, attend Entertainment events like Concerts & Movies. It was tried right here in a part of Manitoba Canada in 1974 as a trial, but no politician has gone with it permanently. I think it would reduce the crime rate because those in poverty tend to be the ones who do the crimes. I think it would raise mental health because people would be able to do more stuff they wanna do like attend concerts & movies, perhaps travel a bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_Annual_Income
Between March 2013 and October 2014 I was on EIA Disability where I got approx. $1040/month ($365 for Rent, the rest was for Food). Rent from March 2013 to August 2014 was $400. Rent from August 2014 to current is $425. Both are renting part of a house.
Was diagnosed with AS in October 2013 but it was 6 mos. after that that I actually got EIA Disability. I feel like a mouse that a cat is being played with.
Between November 2014 and June 2015 I was forced to apply for and get CPP (Canada Pension Plan) Disability. I was getting ($754+$300=$1054). Rent is $425 (same as previous).
June 2015 to current...back on EIA Disability. Getting $1097/month. Rent is still $425. Rest is for food.
My Diabetes meds. are all paid for and I get a monthly transit pass (worth $86). I also get a "Diabetes special diet" (worth $80). This is included in the $1097/month I get now.
When I was working and sometimes when I was getting unemployment insurance, I found (10 yrs. ago) that I could live comfortably between $1100 and $1400 per month. So for me anything below that is "poverty".
I always intend on saving at least $100 to my RSP out of this, but with current food prices it is quite impossible. Plus I have no one to cook for me and sometimes I get tired of doing that, so I go out to eat at the cost of $15-30 per meal. The money I get sometimes runs out before I get my next cheque, and I don't drive nor smoke nor do I do drugs.
I've heard about something called the Guaranteed Annual Income. Basically the idea is to pay people approx. $20 K/yr to be on assistance and their lives will be enriched because they can more easily afford Housing, attend Entertainment events like Concerts & Movies. It was tried right here in a part of Manitoba Canada in 1974 as a trial, but no politician has gone with it permanently. I think it would reduce the crime rate because those in poverty tend to be the ones who do the crimes. I think it would raise mental health because people would be able to do more stuff they wanna do like attend concerts & movies, perhaps travel a bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_Annual_Income
There is RDSP here, registered disability savings plan which I think is Canada wide. You can apply for it and the government puts $1000 a year into a retirement plan for you and you can claim up to like 10 years retroactive. Look into that.
Ukguy wrote:
People with 3 degrees don't make $1600 a month full time in Canada? $1600 Canadian is around £800 GPB - an unskilled minimum wage job would pay 50% more than that in the UK. Canada must have a very low cost of living if people are routinely living on $1500 a month, here in the UK it would be hard not to spend over half that amount on rent alone.
In my area of Canada, yes. I know someone with 3 degrees (BSci, BEd, MEd) and one with 4 degrees (BCom, BEd, MEd, MBA) and throughout their 20s they made about $2000 a month. I would not say it's cheap to live here: I have a steal of a deal paying only about $850 a month in rent but most pay much more. That is why most people I know under 30 live with their parents. I once applied for a job that paid $10 an hour ($15 in today's $$$) and the other applicant had a CA *and* CMA (accounting) designations along with a Bachelor's Degree and extensive experience.
Even working full time it's is hard to save anything, especially since a car is pretty much mandatory outside of Montreal or Toronto. I was lucky that "only" 450 qualified people applied for my $2100/month job. Not to sound like a jerk, but nobody deserves to make such a ridiculous amount for sitting around, disabled or not.
GiantHockeyFan wrote:
In my area of Canada, yes. I know someone with 3 degrees (BSci, BEd, MEd) and one with 4 degrees (BCom, BEd, MEd, MBA) and throughout their 20s they made about $2000 a month. I would not say it's cheap to live here: I have a steal of a deal paying only about $850 a month in rent but most pay much more. That is why most people I know under 30 live with their parents. I once applied for a job that paid $10 an hour ($15 in today's $$$) and the other applicant had a CA *and* CMA (accounting) designations along with a Bachelor's Degree and extensive experience.
Even working full time it's is hard to save anything, especially since a car is pretty much mandatory outside of Montreal or Toronto. I was lucky that "only" 450 qualified people applied for my $2100/month job. Not to sound like a jerk, but nobody deserves to make such a ridiculous amount for sitting around, disabled or not.
Even working full time it's is hard to save anything, especially since a car is pretty much mandatory outside of Montreal or Toronto. I was lucky that "only" 450 qualified people applied for my $2100/month job. Not to sound like a jerk, but nobody deserves to make such a ridiculous amount for sitting around, disabled or not.
Just because someone is getting disability benefits doesn't automatically mean they are 'sitting around', they could be doing charity work or other useful activity when their health / disability allows. Also as they are on disability benefits it is not unreasonable to think much of their time could be taken up looking after their health, which is different from just 'sitting around'.
Also you seem to simultaneously imply that $1600 is not a generous amount to live on (given the living costs you mention) but also that it is too much for anyone to 'make' on benefits. So are you saying those on benefits should be really poor or are you just pissed that wages and work conditions are so bad?
In the UK things are similar; there is an over supply of labour and employers can demand applicants have a degree and years of experience even when they are offering low paid work with terrible conditions.....still there are hundreds applications for the job.
But I don't think just because work conditions are crap that the disabled should be forced to live in poverty just so those working can feel better about how crap their own situation is. Those in good health that work are still better off than those on benefits.