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A Disabling Welfare State? How Policy Binaries Affect Disabled Entrepreneurs

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The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Entrepreneurship

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Abstract

Welfare support is crucial in creating a level-playing field for disabled self-employed people facing additional barriers to starting and running a business compared with non-disabled competitors. Prior studies of how welfare state affects entrepreneurial behaviour of disabled people are inconclusive. This chapter examines how the ‘capable-incapable’ and ‘independent-dependent’ binaries underpinning the UK welfare system influence disabled people’s entrepreneurial motivation and behaviour. We utilise qualitative data from a study of disabled entrepreneurs, analysing their experiences of benefit cuts and increased conditionality of support in the context of welfare reforms since 2010. The UK welfare system continues to disincentivise self-employment and often fails to adequately support disabled entrepreneurs. Aspiring entrepreneurs with fluctuating impairments and health conditions face specific challenges and pressure to choose between work or welfare.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We use the term ‘entrepreneur’ to refer to both people currently in self-employment/business ownership and those starting up.

  2. 2.

    Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), introduced in 2007, was intended to replace Incapacity Benefit (IB) by 2014. ESA is gradually being replaced by Universal Credit (UC), introduced in 2013.

  3. 3.

    The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was introduced in 2013, replacing the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

  4. 4.

    Several respondents offered support services targeting disabled business owners and were able to report their experiences as a support provider as well as a recipient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Eva Kašperová

  2. Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK

    John Kitching

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  1. Eva Kašperová
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  2. John Kitching
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Correspondence to Eva Kašperová .

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  1. Dublin, Ireland

    Thomas M. Cooney

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Kašperová, E., Kitching, J. (2021). A Disabling Welfare State? How Policy Binaries Affect Disabled Entrepreneurs. In: Cooney, T.M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66603-3_12

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