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Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is the out-of-work welfare benefit paid in the United Kingdom to people who are having difficulty finding work because of their long-term illness or disability. ESA was introduced in October 2008 for fresh claims to replace three older benefits: Incapacity Benefit; Income Support paid because of an illness or disability; and Severe Disablement Allowance. From October 2008, these three older benefits were no longer available to new claimants, although people already on them were unaffected at first. Between 2011 and 2014, most of the people who had been on Incapacity Benefit or Income Support since before October 2008 lost their entitlement to their "legacy" benefit: established recipients were assessed for a second time using a different test with more stringent criteria to see whether they qualified for ESA instead (the expectation within Westminster was that a million of these claimants - 40% of the entire caseload - would not be disabled enough to qualify for the new benefit). Of the Coalition Government's controversial package of welfare reforms, this was the policy that had the best prospect of generating substantial savings for the public purse - but also had the greatest potential impact on claimants. Everyone who claims ESA must be assessed and successful claimants will be liable for reassessment at the discretion of the Department for Work and Pensions. The test most people will undergo is called the Work Capability Assessment. The latest data on the success rate of new ESA claims show that after their assessment, 62% of people now receive the highest level of benefit; another 13% are also found to be unfit for work but are deemed to be able to take part in 'work-related activity'; while only 25% are found to be fit for work and therefore ineligible for ESA. Outcomes after ''re''assessments are now even better from a claimant's point of view.〔https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/459095/esa-wca-summary-sep-2015.pdf〕 Despite the major changes made to welfare in the last decade, the total number of people on out-of-work sickness benefits has remained much the same: about 2.5 million,〔https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/452513/statistical-summary-august-2015.pdf〕 and not one penny has been saved from the £13billion sickness benefit budget. ==Who can claim?== An individual can put in a claim for ESA if they satisfy all of these conditions: * They have a fit-note (previously known as a 'sick-note') * They are over the age of 16 * They have not reached State Pension age * They live in Great Britain or Northern Ireland They will not be paid ESA if they are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (this usually means 'if they have a job', but there are exceptions) and it is not possible to receive ESA at the same time as the other main out-of-work benefits i.e. Jobseekers Allowance - received by 786,000 people - and Income Support, given nowadays mainly to 448,000 lone parents and carers.〔 ESA can be either ''contributory'' or ''income-related''. If claimants have paid enough National Insurance they can claim contributory ESA for up to one year if they get the ''work-related activity component'', or indefinitely if they get the ''support component'' (see below). Income-related ESA is for people who have not paid enough National Insurance and is subject to a means test and certain other conditions (although the amount paid as contributions-based ESA can also be affected by financial circumstances). If a spouse or partner is also receiving out-of-work benefits, this might affect entitlement. Universal Credit, which is received by around 100,000 people nationally, can sometimes be paid in addition to contributions-based ESA. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Employment and Support Allowance」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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