The Austerity Cure: The Impact of Benefit Sanctions on Mental Health

ACADEMIA LUNARE

The Austerity Cure:

The Impact of Benefit Sanctions on

Mental Health

Degree of Master of Research (MRes) Sociology & Research Methods, School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow.

Michelle K Jamieson

Cover Design © Jay Johnstone

Text © Michelle K Jamieson 2020

First published by Luna Press Publishing, Edinburgh, 2020

The Austerity Cure: The Impact of Benefit Sanctions on Mental Health © 2020. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owners. Nor can it be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on a subsequent purchaser.

www.lunapresspublishing.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-913387-01-3

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to my participants; without you this work would quite literally not exist. To my supervisor, Dr Lucy Pickering, for their encouragement, guidance, support and, most of all, understanding throughout this. Without them it wouldn’t have happened!

1. Abstract

Background: The impact of benefit sanctions on mental health and self-care has been little debated, yet there is clear evidence linking them to mental, physical, and social damage. Talking to people who have experienced this situation can provide useful information, including the factors that compound poor mental health, and subsequent self-care choices. This information may help others in the same position.

Design & Methods: This qualitative study aims to explore the experience of living in Glasgow with a complex mental health condition during a benefit sanction. Individuals (n=7) who had experienced this were interviewed about their experiences. The semi-structured interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, and framed by T.H. Marshall’s Theory of Citizenship and Psychologists Against Austerity’s framework.

Results & Conclusions: Three main themes emerged from the interviews: 1. Life Lived in Shades of Grey, 2. Good Citizen, Bad Citizen, and, 3. Helping Hands. Participants described a range of experiences within these themes, and it is hoped that these findings could help inform developments in mental, physical, and social support during a benefit sanction.

2. Introduction

The poorest in society are often hit the hardest by recessions (Van Hal, 2015), and since 2010, the UK government under Conservative leadership has overseen an overarching policy of austerity (Lacbucci, 2010). While countries that adopted austerity measures, such as Greece, have seen a sharp increase in mental health issues, and suicides (Karinkolos et al, 2013), countries that have rejected austerity over the same period – like Iceland – did not (Corcoran et al, 2015).

In the UK, the link between poverty, deprivation, and poor mental health is well known (Knapp, 2012). Whilst an explicit link between changes and welfare and suicide remains controversial, the evidence is mounting in its favour (Mills, 2017). Barr and colleagues’ work that found the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) appeared to result in six extra suicides per ten thousand undergoing the assessment (Barr et al, 2015). Barnes and colleagues also found among individuals admitted to A&E with self-harm injuries reported experiences framed by deprivation and trauma created by a sense of despair at their circumstances (2016). It can be assumed that the economic hardship brought on by austerity measures, usually on top of intergenerational poverty and area deprivation, merge into the ‘final straw’ to trigger further poor mental health – and more likely to impact greatest on those already dealing with mental health issues (Patrick, 2017).

Nearly half of all disability benefit claims in the UK are due to poor mental health (Banks et al, 2015). The notoriously dispassionate welfare system has come under intense public scrutiny for its impact on individuals experiencing long-term deprivation, physical and mental illness (Arni et al, 2013), who have been equally vilified and supported in the national media (Runswick-Cole et al, 2015). One particular action used by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to punish those judged to have infringed Jobcentre rules is a benefits sanction – a temporary suspension on regular benefits allowance from anywhere between 4 to 36 weeks, and has been applied for myriad superfluous reasons such as; not looking for work on Christmas Day, and having a heart attack during an assessment (Butler, 2016). Research has linked sanctions to sudden and severe mental health crisis, such as anxiety, depression, and suicide (McVeigh, 2016; Barr et al, 2015), and found the action to have little effect as a deterrent or evidence that suggests it is fit for purpose (National Audit Office, 2016).

Although mental health conditions differ vastly in impact, the nature of the conditions often take a heavy toll on the individual, and interferes with day-to-day life (Mashiach-Eizenberg et al, 2013). However, in-depth research into the impact of poor mental health while in the UK welfare system is limited, especially during a sanction period. Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of well-being in which every individual realizes [their] potential, can cope with normal stresses, and work productively to make a contribution to [their] community" (WHO, 2014). Research has found that