This page provides information on key external research reports on employment and sight loss, and provides an evidence base to support employers and employment professionals.
RNIB research in this area includes a detailed analysis of the employment status of registered blind and partially sighted people, and a secondary analysis of labour market experiences. For research commissioned by RNIB, refer to the Employment research section.
External research on work capability assessments
Not working: Citizens Advice Bureau evidence on the ESA work capability assessment
Employment and support allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2008 to replace the existing incapacity benefit (IB) for new claimants. It aims to give more help to those who might, with support, be able to work.
Citizens Advice (CAB) has been monitoring the impact of the new benefit, and this is their second report since its introduction. Limited capability, published in November 2009, covered the administration of the benefit, and this report looks at the assessment process. Bureau advisers have expressed concern at the number of people unexpectedly being found fit for work. This report therefore examines three key aspects of the ESA assessment process: who is being selected for the work capability assessment (WCA); its design and content; and how it is carried out in practice.
Right first time?: An indicative study of the accuracy of ESA work capability assessment reports
In order to claim benefits, most people who are too ill or disabled to work need to undergo a medical assessment. Employment and support allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2008, as a replacement for incapacity benefits and a new medical assessment, the work capability assessment (WCA), was introduced alongside it.
Citizens Advice (CAB) has long had concerns about the nature of medical assessments for incapacity and disability benefits, and the quality of decisions based upon them. They have been monitoring the introduction of the WCA and the whole process for claiming ESA.
With this in mind, CAB have undertaken a detailed analysis of the accuracy of WCA reports. Their analysis indicates that the level of accuracy in reports is worryingly low. This report calls on the DWP to undertake, with some urgency, regular, independent monitoring of the accuracy of WCA reports, to ensure that people who are too ill or disabled to work, either in the short- or long-term, are properly supported by the benefit system.
External research on the health of working age people
Working for a healthier tomorrow: Dame Carol Black's review of the health of Britain's working age population
The subject of this review is the health of people of working age. At its heart is a recognition of, and a concern to remedy, the human, social and economic costs of impaired health and well-being in relation to working life in Britain. The aim of the review is to identify the factors that stand in the way of good health and to elicit interventions, including changes in attitudes, behaviours and practices - as well as services- that can help overcome them. Dame Carol Black's recommendations point to an expanded role for occupational health and its place within a broader collaborative and multidisciplinary service.
External research on the role of assessment
Opening up work for all: The role of assessment in the work programme.
This report, by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion and Advanced Personnel Management, identifies the fundamental importance of accurate and individualised assessment in determining the needs of the jobseeker.
It recommends that assessments are wide-ranging and sensitive, while considering a range of multiple and/or complex barriers specific to each person. Specifically, it identifies a need for an in-depth understanding of a range of socio-economic, personal, psychological and geographic challenges faced by the jobseeker in their day-to-day lives.