Hello lovely people, I’m Jessica, this is Matilda
and welcome to a very British video!
[UK national anthem]
Not that the things I’m going to be talking about don’t apply to different countries,
the figures will just be slightly different. You’ll hopefully also find what I’m talking
about very interesting. I’m just warning you now that this British accent is 100% real.
Although people do question it. Which is weird.
I'm not like secretly French or something
As my dear wife and I made very clear in the video where we butchered the
language in a video!
But today I’ll be hopefully offending no one but bigots.
[ding]
And amusing you along the way.
If you’d like more content like this then hit the subscribe button below as I make videos
twice a week!
A-hem. In England we have an arm of the government called the Department for Work and Pensions
(DWP), they are responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy.
They are responsible for everything disability related, from giving you the ‘official’
tag that then allows you to access services you need, or paying disability benefits, to
building a ramp at your workplace or paying for a sign language interpreter to accompany
you to job interviews. All of that goodness.
Unfortunately, the way the British system works is that the person in charge of each department
in the Government changes incredibly often
and with every new term and there are politicians who likely doesn't know anything about that area
and has absolutely no prior experience there so it's not really the best idea!
Although everyone who works in that department is a civil servant who's been in there for years
and they actually know what they are doing. But the main guy in charge. No clue.
That's actually really rude, ok. Some people have a clue. Some people know what they are doing
A few years ago the department was run by a man called Iain Duncan Smith
Who became known as the ‘grim reaper’ and recently has said some even more stupid stuff!
Good.
Including that companies should hire disabled people because they’re so grateful for a chance to get
out of poverty they’ll work longer hours and forgo holiday.
Admittedly not as bad as the time he said that the government shouldn't help people with disabilities
get out of poverty, their only options is that they go to work
And I guess if the can't work…
Due to their disability then...
They… die? I guess?
He didn’t really give an alternative to that point.
Oh and that time he said in parliament that non disabled people are "normal"
which I suppose makes me abnormal? I mean guys I've been an alien all along
Admittedly that's not as bad as the time he created a programme that changed the rules on what
makes a person ‘fit for work’ or not... then
2,380 died.
In six weeks.
Which is like 56 people a day.
A. Day.
Context: The UK is not that big!
Oh!
And then there was that awkward moment when the United Nations investigated his department
and that programme for human rights abuses…
[Grunts]
Oh! And that time he said that doctors shouldn’t have the say in whether someone is too ill
to work… because he should?
I actually I don’t know who he thinks should be able to decide on whether a person is ill or not but
Just not doctors because apparently
They don't know stuff
Med school, who needs 10 years of study he's just clever.
and knows stuff.
I mean… he’s like a treasure trove of hateful content. Who needs YouTube drama?!
But back to his most recent comments:
I recently made two videos with Gem from WheelsNoHeels all about employment
and disability and what is like having a job when you are disabled employee
and we both talked about how we did things that were actively bad for us as people- physically
and mentally- because we were so grateful to have jobs and so scared of loosing them.
A few fun facts:
Being disabled means you’re more likely to live in poverty.
[irony] OH my god, no one saw that coming!
On average being disabled costs you £570 a month more. But that’s just an average.
There are some disabilities don’t cost you anything at all and
then there are others that cost you way more than that.
Also again that's a month, every month.
After housing costs, the proportion of working aged disabled people living in poverty is
28 percent, much higher than the proportion of their non-disabled counterparts.
Also we should probably bare in mind the fact that disabled people are less
likely to leave home.
So there is obviously a number of people who are still living at home and therefor don't have
housing costs taken out of their overall monthly budget but they are actually still...
Don't have a lot.
Ok and if you think it’s a small number of people we’re talking about here I should mention that
19% of working age adults
That's those who are 18-65 have a disability.
19% that’s almost a fifth of that age group!
But the employment rate for that group stands at just 50%.
And that’s ruddy terrifying.
Side note, if you think I’m just talking about physical disabilities it's worth mentioning than
a quarter of people with learning difficulties, a speech impediment
or mental health condition are in employment
A quarter of people!
Kinda thinking that the other 3/4 could really appreciate those benefits he's trying to cut
So what Iain Duncan Smith seems to be suggesting here is
that companies play on that fear by flouting employment
law and encouraging disabled people to work themselves to the bone without taking
any kind of break, the breaks they’re entitled to.
Because money?
He’s also implying that, yes, disabled people should
be grateful for anyone coming along and lifting them up from poverty
How nice.
After all, it’s up to you to save yourself and if you can’t-
Death.
Or just bankruptcy for your family. Whichevs.
The thing is though, if you’re American or from a country that similarly doesn’t
have a state socialised health care service then you’re probably thinking ‘actually,
that sounds pretty familiar’ and not out of place
Why get upset?
But I live in Great Britain and I pay taxes expressly
for the purposes of looking after people.
Now, you can start to cry ‘misuse of funds’ and talk to me about the anecdotal examples
you have of how many millions of pounds a year are handed out to people who don’t
really deserve it and are just faking a disability… but no.
Of every £100 spent on disability benefits only 50p is fraudulently claimed-
50p
That's actually the lowest level of all benefits.
You should really be looking at Doris down the road- she says she’s 92 but really she’s
a twenty-something with a really bad skin care routine.
The whole conspiracy that loads of disabled people are faking is really just propaganda…
from ‘the man’.
I mean the government but I think the man sounds scary so
Politicians have created the rhetoric that welfare is no longer an
entitlement, it’s now a privilege that should be earned. Ministers promote the disgust at
‘benefit scroungers’ and push the idea that ‘work is the best way out of poverty’...
Despite feeling entitled to freely claim things on expenses!
Hey MP Frank Field even says that bosses should pay disabled people less than the minimum wage
Because… we’re less human or something?
Unclear on that.
So this is all a bit poo…
Let’s end on a happy note!
If there was a 10 percentage point rise in the employment rate amongst disabled adults
that would add an extra, wait for it
£12 billion to the Exchequer by 2030!
I mean, disabled people, literally saving the economy!
Here’s another positive: the spending power of families with at least one disabled person
is estimated to be £200 billion a year! That’s a lot of money
that could be funneled only towards companies that support disabled people and have good
practices…
Basically: it’s hard not to feel like you’re just one person in a whole sea of people
but together we can turn the tide. If you can spread a message of acceptance and tolerance
to just the people around you and then they spread it out to just the people around them
and they do the same… think how far that could go!
You can be the difference and you can make a change, with every thought and with every action
You can turn the tide on this rhetoric
Disabled people are actually a pretty cool and essential part of society
and helping people financially helps everyone
You cant measure a persons worth in their monetary value
There are other ways in which people can contribute
And you can help share that new way of looking at people
So I thank you, for watching this video, listening to me and being generally a cool human being.
Please share this video and see what changes you can make in the world.