Thousands quit work for generous disability benefits in the 1990s

Generous
disability benefits led more than half a million men of working age to quit
their jobs in the 1990s, according to the Bank of England.

Its
research found that between 1992 and 2001, 540,000 males aged 16 to 64 left the
job market. They were almost all unskilled workers.

"The
generosity of the disability insurance system relative to that of the
unemployment insurance appears to have encouraged such workers to exit the
labour market," the report said.

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However,
the bank said this trend was unlikely to be repeated in the future because of
significant falls in the generosity of disability benefits.

By Michael Millar