This report looks at the 1.25 million adults of working age who claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as well as incapacity benefits. The purpose is to identify the characteristics and aspirations of these men and women, and to assess the extent to which they differ from, or are similar to, the Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimant group as a whole. The policy background is the Government’s aspiration to reduce the number of IB claimants by one million by 2016, which would almost certainly require a substantial reduction in the number of DLA claimants among this group.

The core of the report draws on new survey data, previously compiled by the research team, covering more than 3,600 IB claimants, of whom over 1,700 also claimed DLA. The survey was carried out between November 2006 and October 2007 in eight local authority districts in five different regions. Analysis of the survey data is complemented by an overview of DLA claims using national benefits data and by evidence from in-depth follow-up interviews with a smaller number of claimants.