Employment and Support Allowance: Findings from a face to face survey of customers

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2008 to replace Incapacity Benefit and Income Support received on the grounds of incapacity, as part of a broader set of reforms introduced to move from a passive to an active welfare system, and as a response to the welfare reform Green Paper: A new deal for welfare (2008). People claiming Incapacity Benefit and Income Support on the grounds of incapacity, as well as Severe Disablement Allowance, were to be reassessed for ESA nationally from early 2011.

This report presents the first findings of a representative face-to-face survey of 3,650 ESA claimants. It was carried out between December 2009 and February 2010 by Ipsos MORI. The sample consisted of those who made a claim for ESA between April and June 2009, allowing a sufficient gap for the majority to have had a decision on the outcome of their claim by the time of the survey.