The importance of work

There was strong commitment to the idea of doing paid work. Most people’s views on the importance of work were grounded in considerable experience of being in the labour market. Younger people and those trying work only recently, who had less experience of being employed, also felt that work was important. People explained the value of work in a number of ways:

• financial rewards

Not everybody mentioned financial rewards from working. Those who did say that earnings were of key importance in achieving adequate income included people with financial responsibilities for families, and people who wanted a higher standard of living than could be achieved on benefits. Avoiding and relieving debt or mortgage arrears was associated for some people with having regular earnings. People currently living with relatives but hoping one day to establish an independent home felt that this would be hard without earnings. Earnings could be important in order to maintain a particular leisure interest or hobby. Younger people were often looking forward to higher incomes and greater spending power by developing their career.

Those for whom financial rewards of work were of less importance included people who had become used to managing for long periods on relatively low benefit incomes, and some of those who, when interviewed, did not feel much better off financially in work. It was not unusual for people to say that emotional and psychological rewards from working, or the positive impact on their health and family well-being, were more important than the level of income they achieved. Some people in the group said they did not expect to earn very much, because of constraints on the amount or type of work they could do. People whose impairment meant that they had not yet learned to manage money themselves found it hard to assess the financial rewards from working.

The source of income could be as important as the level of income achieved, when people described the financial rewards from work. Being financially more independent through having earnings increased self-esteem of people who did not like being dependent on parents, partners or out-of-work benefits. Some people valued not having to deal with the Benefits Agency.

• work as a normal part of life

Perceptions of paid work as a ‘normal part of life’ were important in two ways. People who had generally been in employment from the time their education ended, especially men, said that going to work was what they always did. It was a normal part of their own lives. Impairments had not prevented employment for some such people. Those who had experienced a period away from work due to injury or ill- health perceived the end of such a period as ‘getting back to normal’. As we see later, it could be hard for such people if their previous occupation was no longer possible.

Others perceived work as a normal part of life because it was what other people generally did. People with experience of discrimination and exclusion in some areas of life said that having a job helped them to feel part of society, and a member of the ordinary public. This feeling was strong among young people with severe impairments, who wanted to take part in life in the same way as other people.

• job satisfaction

Job satisfaction was part of the value of work. Using skills, training and experience was rewarding, and achieving standards required by employers or customers led to a sense of satisfaction. Work provided interest and stimulation with opportunities for some people to learn new skills, try activities, gain knowledge and take on responsibilities. Others explained that their job might seem routine and relatively undemanding to other people. However, for them it was satisfying and appropriate in view of the nature of their impairment or illness.

Building up or maintaining a business activity as a self-employed person could bring a particular sense of job satisfaction and creativity.

• positive emotional impact

Having work was an important part of how people felt about themselves, and many in the group stressed the positive psychological impact of paid work. Paid work increased people’s sense of self-esteem and pride. It generated self-confidence, and motivation in other areas of life. Developing a career brought a sense of progression, and a feeling of security.

Having a job could help to fill gaps in life due to disappointments or losses, some of which people associated with impairment or poor health, such as loss of mobility or functional capacity, their physical appearance, or not having a domestic partner.

• social contact

Opportunities to meet other people at work, and the social interactions of the workplace were important to people in all age groups. Talking to other people at work helped to maintain morale and mental health. The social contacts were especially valued by people who had experience of spending long empty periods in hospital or at home, when they were unable to work. Some spoke of finding relaxation and fun at work, and ‘having a laugh’.

• break from home responsibilities

Having a break from home responsibilities by going out to work was valued by some people who had children at home, or caring responsibilities for adult family members.

• work as therapy

In the same way as reported by clients of the New Deal for Disabled People (Arthur

et al., 1999), work was sometimes experienced as helping recovery from illness, or preventing relapse, especially among people with experience of mental illness. Keeping occupied, with an external focus and a pattern of activity, helped to control symptoms of schizophrenia. Being a valued employee and having something interesting to do increased and maintained self-confidence and motivation, and was beneficial to people who were liable to depression. Some people had been surprised by the pace of recovery from depression when they returned to or started work.

People who had to manage pain on a daily basis sometimes felt that pain thresholds were raised when they had a focus of concentration through their work, and had noticed less need for medication when at work. Stiff and sore joints could be easier to manage, and mobility improved in suitable jobs which enabled people to get the right balance between moving around and sitting down. Having set patterns and activities at work during part of the day was helpful to some people with learning difficulties or communication problems.

People with learning difficulties had found it was easy to become ‘lazy’ without a paid job, and work was helpful because it encouraged them to keep trying, and go on developing themselves.

• supporting relationships

People spoke of improvements in relationships with other family members when they were working. Men with domestic partners found more to talk about and had fewer arguments; views shared by some of those domestic partners who were present in the interviews. Younger people living at home also felt more comfortable when they had work. Again, there was more to talk about and more relaxed relationships with parents or siblings.

• role fulfilmentand modelling

Part of the improved relationships described above arose from feelings of fulfilling normative roles such as providing for a family, being a ‘breadwinner’, or being a

responsible adult, and not feeling cast as a ‘sponger’ or avoiding responsibilities. Young people said that their parents were pleased and proud that they had jobs.

Some parents wanted their children to grow up learning directly from their example that work was an important part of life.

• legality of activity

In addition to the importance of work itself, being formally identified as working rather than claiming out-of-work benefits could make life easier for people who maintained activities which generated income while out of work. Being formally in work meant not having to worry about reporting and surveillance of small payments, for example from selling products or services, or a few hours work for a friend while claiming benefits. Not being tempted or encouraged to work in the ‘shadow economy’ could be a welcome relief from stress.

In general, therefore, people in the study group reported a strong emotional commitment to having work, often (but not always) strengthened by a need for earnings to achieve desired living standards. Many of the views expressed are shared by other people who do not have impairments or ill-health, of course. The concept of work as therapy, or helpful in managing difficult situations is not specific to disabled people, but described by other people experiencing bereavement or family problems (Corden, Sainsbury and Sloper, 2001).

Getting and sustaining work had often been hard for people in this study group, and the next part of the chapter explores problems experienced. Financial disincentives were an issue for some people, but other barriers could be as or more important.