Putting your hand in your pocket - the hidden costs of illness and disability

Some major charities have in the last few years been focusing on the increased costs incurred by people with significant illness or disability. CLIC Sargent, Scope and Macmillan Cancer Support have all recently highlighted that cancer or disability costs individuals and families hundreds of pounds a month.

Costs can be incurred by needing to travel more and pay for parking at the hospital or by needing to buy more things to cope with your illness or disability.

When at Macmillan we worked on a report 'Cancer's hidden price tag' and it involved an extensive research report based on a survey of over 1000 respondents, finding that four out of five people with cancer spend £570 a month because of their illness. Scope and CLIC Sargent have similarly surveyed people to find out what extra things people have had to buy or pay for and the sums involved are staggering - Scope says that on average, disabled people face extra costs of £570 a month related to their impairment or condition, on top of welfare payments designed to help meet these costs. CLIC Sargent found that on average families pay an extra £600 when their child has cancer.

It is important that these charities are bringing attention to this issue. If you don’t have a cancer diagnosis or disability, you might not realise that there will be an impact on cold hard cash. The problem is compounded by the fact that people sometimes have to stop working at the same time as their outgoings go up.

Solutions to the issue are not simple and require some smart policy thinking. Governments, business and regulators all have a role to play. At Macmillan they have been working with banks to provide advice and support. CLIC Sargent are campaigning for a travel fund and you can sign the petition here. Scope is asking for disabled people to have the right support to help meet extra costs and for the extra costs incurred by disabled people to be reduced.

All these campaigns are reminders that charities need to think about the needs of their representatives in the round, and not be afraid to challenge inequalities. There might well be clues in the services that charities provide, or what your beneficiaries are contacting you about. For example, Macmillan has for many years provided benefits advice and financial grants, a key indication that people with cancer have financial problems and that this area is ripe for policy change. It also means you have authority when you talk about the problem.

Good luck to Macmillan, Scope and CLIC Sargent in their campaigns for change (please excuse the pun).