Barriers to Financial Inclusion Research Briefing

The link between sight loss and income

October 2014

1Introduction

This research briefing highlights key elements relating to household income and gross monthly pay, drawnfrom three larger reports,which use independent survey data to describe the circumstances of adults with sight loss. Thisbriefing, the source literature, and original survey data will be of interest to those working in the sight loss sector, or anyone seeking to better understand the financial circumstances of blind and partially sighted people.

2Method

Three reports provide information for this briefing.

“Circumstances of people with sight loss”(McManus and Lord, 2012), analyses data from the Life Opportunities Survey, and compares the personal and household income of people with sight loss with that of other disabled people, and with the general population.
“Investigation of data relating to blind and partially sighted people in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey: October 2010 – September 2013”(Hewett with Keil, 2014), analyses data from the Labour Force Survey, and highlights the gross monthly pay of people with a seeing difficulty compared with other disabled people, and with the general population.
“Network 1000 Survey 1: Comparing the general and registered visually impaired populations”(Clements and Douglas, 2009), examines the payments of a number of benefits and allowances, in order to compare the financial circumstances of blind and partially sighted people with that of the general population.

The three reports use different sample groups and measurement indicators, and are therefore not directly comparable with each other. They do however give an indication of the financial circumstances of blind and partially sighted people compared with other disabled people, and with the general population. The three main data sources used in these reports are as follows:

2.1Life Opportunities Survey

The Life Opportunities Survey (LOS) is a large-scale longitudinal survey of disability in Great Britain, covering 37,500 households and focusing on social barriers to participation. The LOS allows for comparisons of the experiences of people with and without impairments across a range of areas, including employment, education and training, social and cultural activities, living standards, social contact, and use of public services.

2.1.1Definition of the population

The LOS surveyrelies on self reported measures to identify a person as having a seeing difficulty. Respondents were defined as having sight loss if they answered "yes" to the following questions:

Having difficulty seeing or wear glasses or contact lenses;
Andhaving “moderate” or “great” difficulty either seeing ordinary newsprint at arm's length or clearly seeing the face of someone across a room;
And this limited the amount or kind of activities that the respondent could do.

2.2The Labour Force Survey

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a large scale survey carried out on behalf of the UK government on a quarterly basis, and is the main source of official employment data in the UK.As in the LOS survey, the population covered in the LFS includes people whose sight loss would not be eligible for registration, but which is still of sufficient severity to affect their everyday lives.

2.2.1 Definition of the population

The LFS also relies on self reported measures to identify a person as having a seeing difficulty, using a series of questions starting with:

“Do you have any health problems or disabilities that you expect will last for more than a year?”

The statistics presented in the report by Hewitt and Keil (2014) relate to two different groups:

People who are long term disabled with a seeing difficulty.
People who are not disabled, but who have a seeing difficulty.

As a result of the small sample size, the findings that are presented inHewitt with Keil (2014) have been aggregated over 12 quarters from October 2010 to September 2013.

2.3Network 1000

Network 1000 Survey 1 (NW1000) reports the findings from interviews with over 1,000 people who were registered with their local authority as blind or partially sighted. The report coversa wide range of topics, including housing, employment, health, leisure and money. The sampling process was carefully designed to generate a random sample, stratified and weighted for age, and is therefore statistically robust (‘unbiased’), while still containing a range of people of different ages. As a result, the information can be statistically generalised to the registered blind and partially sighted population in England, Wales and Scotland.

2.3.1 Definition of the population

NW1000 is based on a representative sample of people who are registered as blind or partially sighted. This means:

There are objective criteria for defining the population as blind or partially sighted.
People in this population can be regarded as having severe sight loss.

2.4Weighting

When comparing data from people with sight loss with data from other groups (such as those without sight loss) it is important to control for demographic factors. For example, in the LOS 34 per cent of respondents identified as having sight loss were over the age of 75. This compares to 17 per cent of those with other impairments and 6 per cent of those with no impairments(McManus and Lord, 2012). Controlling for age accounts for these differences; meaning that comparisons between groups highlight other factors ratherthan just age differences. This is important, as otherwise differences between the two populations could be due to age rather than sight loss.

All of the comparison reports used in this briefing use weight variables such as age and gender, applied as appropriate, in order that the sample is representative of the wider population from which it is drawn.See each individual report for more details on the methodology used.

3Key findings from the research

3.1Life Opportunities Survey

3.1.1Personal income

More than three-quarters of people (78%) with sight loss had a total personal income of less than £300 per week, compared with 50% of people with no impairment.
After controlling for age and sex, almost three-quarters of people (73%) with sight losshad a total personal income of less than £300 per week, compared with 53% of people with no impairment.

3.1.2Household income

Almost half of people (48%) with sight loss live in a household with a total income of less than £300 a week, compared with only 19% of people with no impairment.
After controlling for age and sex, people with sight loss were almost twice as likely as those with no impairment to live in a household with an income of less than £300 a week (40% compared to 21%).

3.1.3Household income, by impairment status and age

The proportion of people who lived in a household with a total income of less than £300 a week increased with age for all impairment statuses.
People with sight loss were more likely than those with no impairment to live in a household with an income of less than £300 a week in each age-group, although the scale of the difference varied across age groups.
For those aged 16-44, people with sight loss were twice as likely as those with no impairment to live in a household with an income of less than £300 a week (32% compared to 14%).
For those aged 45-64, people with sight loss were nearly three times as likely as those with no impairment to live in a household with an income of less than £300 a week (43% compared to 15%).
For those aged 65 or more, people with sight loss were more likely than those with no impairment to live in a household with an income of less than £300 a week (59% compared to 43%).

Building on this analysis of income, McManus and Lord (2009) report on inequality in relation to economic participation,through a series of questions around financial security. For example, survey respondents were asked whether they could: afford a week’s holiday; afford to eat chicken, meat or fish every second day; pay an unexpected but necessary expense of £500, and several other questions. It is beyond the remit of this briefing to reproduce the findings here, but in many cases people with sight loss experienced economic restrictions; and were often at a disadvantage compared to people with other types of disabilities, and people with no disabilities.

3.2The Labour Force Survey

At all pay levels, the gross monthly pay (including bonuses and tax credits) of long term disabled people with a seeing difficulty was similar to that of non disabled people without a seeing difficulty.
In the lowest pay band, the proportion of long term disabled people with a seeing difficulty earning less than £1250 per month was similar to people with no disability and without a seeing difficulty (33% compared to 31%).

3.3Network 1000

Comparing NW1000 data on the payments of benefits and allowances (including pensions, disability allowances, benefits and tax credits, benefits and payments for unemployment, family benefits and allowances, housing benefits and allowances) with a number of population surveys, Clements and Douglas (2009) found:

There is some evidence that a slightly higher proportion of registered working age blind and partially sighted people are drawing upon private occupational pensions compared to people in the general population.
Unsurprisingly, a much higher proportion of registered blind and partially sighted people report receiving disability related benefits compared with the general population.
Of those not working, registered blind and partially sighted people are proportionately less likely to receive benefits relating to seeking work compared with the general population. This is probably related to registered blind and partially sighted people who are not working being more likely to be economically inactive.
Of those who have dependent children living at home, registered blind and partially sighted people reported that they were twice as likely to receive Working Tax Credit compared to equivalent people in the general population.
Registered blind and partially sighted people are generally more likely to get Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit compared with people in the general population. This difference is particularly high amongst people of working age.
Some of these findings indicate that registered blind and partially sighted people are more likely to belong to lower income households.

Clements and Douglas (2009) also looked at the broader issue of how household income might impact on daily life, although in less detail than McManus and Lord (2012). For example, registered blind and partially sighted people of working age report greater financial difficulty than people of working age in the general population. Specifically, 45 per cent of working age blind and partially sighted people describe their financial situation as ‘just about getting by’ or worse compared with 31 per cent of the general population.

4Conclusions

This research briefing highlights key elements relating to; personal and household income, payments from benefits and allowances, and gross monthly pay, in order to compare the position of blind and partially sighted people with that of people with other disabilities, and with the general population. This information has been drawn from three larger reports, which use independent survey data from LOS, LFS and NW1000 to describe the circumstances of adults with sight loss.

Evidence from the LOS suggests that blind and partially sighted people are likely to have significantly lower personal income than people with no impairment.Blind and partially sighted people are also much more likely to live in a household with a lower household income than people with no impairment.

These lower income levels are replicated across all age bands, and when controlled for age and sex. Around half of people living with sight loss live in a householdwhere the weekly income is less than £300. After adjusting for age andgender, people with sight loss were twice as likely as those with no impairment to livein a household with an income of less than £300 a week.

Evidence from NW1000, which focuses on benefits and allowances payments, indicates that blind and partially sighted people are more likely to belong to lower income households (Clements and Douglas 2009). For example, of those who have dependent children living at home, registered blind and partially sighted people were twice as likely to reportthat they receivedWorking Tax Credit compared to equivalent people in the general population.And registered blind and partially sighted people are generally more likely to get Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit compared with people in the general population. This difference is particularly high amongst people of working age.

Evidence from the LFS suggests that thegross monthly pay of people with sight loss is similar to that of the general population (ie people who are not disabled and do not have a seeing difficulty). The LFS still found that one in three people who are long term disabled with a seeing difficulty have gross monthly pay of less than £1250, including bonuses and tax credits.

There are a number of possible explanations for this similarity, including the fact that LFS focuses on earnings from employment (including bonuses and tax credits), rather than overall income. The NW1000 survey found that registered blind and partially sighted people were more likely than the general population to receive working tax credit and housing benefit. It is therefore possible that, for blind and partially sighted people in employment, the disadvantage of low pay may be offset by tax credits and other benefits. However, this is speculative and requires further scrutiny.

It is also difficult to obtain reliable personal income data. There was a very low overall response rate in the LFS to questions on income so there may be a possibility that the findings are not representative. However, the Office for National Statistics, who conduct the LFS, did not report that the findings could be non-representative, and so further investigationis needed.

Likewise, Clements and Douglas (2009) commented on the ‘problematic nature’ of the data collected for the NW1000 surveys ontotal household income, which meant they excluded income data for the comparison sample in their report.They expand on this, arguing that “establishing accurate household (or personal) income estimates is notoriously difficult using survey questions" (Clements and Douglas 2009, 61).

Another issue requiring further examination is whether blind and partially sighted people on low incomes are in a job that is the appropriate level for their qualifications and experience. Any additional research that looks at earnings will need to control for other factors such as age and qualifications.

Both McManus and Lord (2012) and Clements and Douglas (2009) lookbeyond income, and present survey results that report on inequality in relation to economic participation. It is outside the scope of this briefing to reproduce the complete range of findings here, but in many cases people with sight loss experienced economic restrictions; and were often at a disadvantage compared to people with other disabilities, and people with no disabilities.

The information contained in this briefing summarises our current knowledge. RNIB hope to gain more insight into blind and partially sighted people’s income and earnings through a major new survey, to be conducted in late 2014, investigating the experiences and circumstances of more than 1000 blind and partially sighted adults. RNIB will update this briefing as more information becomes available.

5Further information

The three research reportsdescribed in this briefing can be downloaded from the research section of the RNIB website:

References for the three reports are:

Clements B and Douglas G, 2009.Network 1000 Survey 1: Comparing the General and Registered Visually Impaired Populations. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham. Report for RNIB.

Hewitt R, with Keil S, 2014.Investigation of data relating to blind and partially sighted people in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey: October 2010 – September 2013. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham.

McManus S and Lord C, 2012.Circumstances for people with sight loss: secondary analysis of Understanding Society and the Life Opportunities Survey. NatCen report for RNIB.

References for the main data sets used in this briefing: the Life Opportunities Survey; The Labour Force Survey; and Network 1000; can found in the appropriate report, cited above.

For further information please contact RNIB Evidence and Service Impact by emailing .

ESI Research briefing1