Health and Disability Study
What is the research about?
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is interested in understanding the education or employment experiences of young adults receiving health and disability benefits. The research is being carried out to better understand young people’s hopes for the future and what support they need.
Who is conducting this research?
The DWP has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), an independent research organisation, to carry out this research.
Why have I been contacted about taking part?
You have been contacted as part of a sample of young adults receiving health and disability benefits, or, you are the appointee of a young adult receiving health and disability benefits.
Contact details for everyone in this sample were securely shared by the DWP with NatCen for research purposes.
You, or the person you are an appointee for, may also have taken part in NatCen’s survey on this topic in 2024. If so, we are recontacting you because you told us you would be happy to be invited to take part in a follow-up interview.
Why will taking part involve?
If you choose to take part, you will have a 45-minute interview with a researcher from NatCen. The interview will take place over the next few weeks at a time chosen by you. The interview will be held online via Microsoft Teams, by telephone, or in person, according to your preference.
If you are an appointee of a young adult receiving health and disability benefits, you can take part in various ways. You can either attend with the person you assist, to support them to take part in the interview, or you can attend on their behalf and share their views. We would confirm this with you when we schedule the interview.
Why take part?
Taking part is an opportunity to share your experiences with education, training or work as a young adult receiving health and disability benefits, your current goals and hopes for the future, and any additional support you may need.
As a thank you for taking part, you will also receive a £40 Love2Shop voucher that you can spend in many high street shops. Receiving this voucher won’t affect your benefits now or any time in the future. If you are an appointee, the voucher is for the person you assist.
What will the interviews be about?
During the interview we will ask you about:
- your disability or health condition
- the government health and disability benefits that you receive
- your education, training, and/or work history
- your current goals and future ambitions
- any barriers you face to accessing education, training, and/or work, and support that could address these.
There are no right or wrong answers, and you do not need to prepare anything in advance.
Can I have special arrangements?
Yes. When we contact you to schedule the interview, we will check whether you require any special arrangements which will help you to take part. Examples might include arranging breaks during the interview; sharing a list of interview topics in advance; arranging for someone to attend the interview with you; completing the interview across more than one sitting; and using live closed captioning (i.e. subtitles) to help you follow the discussion online.
Do I have to take part?
Taking part is completely voluntary.
You can let us know if you would like to take part by getting in touch with the research team using the contact details below.
You can withdraw at any time up to and during the interview, and you do not have to give a reason. You may also choose to skip any questions you do not wish to answer. You can withdraw from the research up to two weeks after the interview takes place by contacting the research team on the details below to request this.
What will happen to the information I give?
Everything you say in the interview will be treated as anonymous and confidential, in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This means we will not tell anyone outside the research team that you have taken part in the study or share what you specifically have said. The DWP will not know that you have taken part in this research.
The only exception to confidentiality is if something you share with us indicates a significant risk of harm to yourself or another identifiable person. If this were to happen, the researcher may have to tell someone else, which could include an authority such as the emergency services. We would aim to discuss this with you first.
With your permission, we will audio-record the interview. The recordings and all other identifiable details we hold about you will be stored securely and destroyed 12 months after the research is complete.
We will use the information from these interviews to write a report and presentation of findings for the DWP. To help bring our thematic findings to life, we may include some of your words in brief quotes in our research outputs but will not include any identifiable information about you (such as your name or location, for example).
For more information on how your data will be used, please see the study privacy notice.
Contact us
If you would like to take part in this research, or have any questions, please contact the research team on the details below:
Email: workandhealthinterview@natcen.ac.uk
Freephone: 0800 652 4569