Families with disabled children spend six times more of their monthly income for well-being, says study

Study in Tamil Nadu reveals families with disabled children spend six times their monthly income on caregiving and healthcare.

In Tamil Nadu, a family with disabled children spends six times more than its monthly income for their well-being, finds a study conducted by the Centre for Inclusive Policy (CIP).

A study on Direct Costs of Disability to Families in Tamil Nadu finds that caregiving assistance consumes the major proportion of services required which is followed by assistive devices, health and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities. However, for children with complex medical conditions, healthcare becomes the major expenditure.

According to the 2011 census, over 11 lakh persons with disability live in Tamil Nadu, which now activists estimate would be over 15 lakh. The study aims to understand the types of requirements of persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others, and their associated costs. The study analysed families with income ranging between ₹20,000 to ₹60,000 per month.

Meanwhile, families with adults with disabilities end up spending over 6-10 times their monthly income for their well-being. The major costs being care services and transportation. The State government covers only 20%-30% cost of the World Health Organization’s list of priority devices, while 70%-80% of the other requirements including care services are undertaken by the family, the report points out.

Further, the study also stated that a large proportion of the goods and services required are either not accessible or affordable for persons with disabilities.

Stating that there has been no change in the scenario for persons with disability in the time that the report has been published, Meenakshi Balasubramanian, senior associate, Centre for Inclusive Policy and a member of the Disability Rights Alliance, said, “Some communities don’t have any access to the WHO list of assistive devices such as the deaf-blind community. The government also does not have any policy regarding personal assistance.”

Recently, disability activists from over 30 organisations in the State had urged the Tamil Nadu government to increase the social security allowance to ₹6,000 per month. Presently, the government gives ₹2,000 to persons with disability.