Societal attitudes on disability support

Wider society values disabled people and families having flexibility and independence

Oct 12, 2024

I am heartened by the findings from a robust piece of survey work.

Rangahou Aotearoa Research undertook a survey on a nationally representative sample of New Zealanders 18 years of age and over. They asked people their thoughts on providing support to disabled people and the people who care for them.

Their findings show that, across the whole of society, there is strong support for disabled people and families to receive the support they need, to have flexibility in how support is used, and for disability supports to be a priority in allocating tax spend.

Those surveyed were also asked about the impact of the change in purchasing rules. Again, wider society clearly understands the negative impact of imposing rigid and stringent rules on disabled people and carers - and is not supportive of these changes:

graphical representation of people's attitudes on the impact of new purchasing rules on quality of life. Overall, roughly three times as many people felt that both groups would be ‘very negatively’ impacted in some way by the new ‘purchasing rules’ (61%) as thought they would not really be impacted (17%). • Carers were as likely to be very negatively impacted as were people with disabilities. • However, about one-third of respondents chose to give a response in-between these two extremes, saying people with disabilities and/or their carers would just be moderately impacted. — visual representation of survey findings

Wider society ‘gets it’.

Disabled people are a group that most people in society care about. It is clear that wider society understands that the new ‘purchasing rules’ have had a negative impact on disabled people and family carers. They also understand that our wellbeing is collectively bound up together - many respondents were as concerned about carers as they were concerned about disabled people.

Wider society is deeply aware of the negative impacts this governments approach has had on our collective mental health, quality of life, and ability to be independent.

pie graph showing levels of overall concern about impact of new purchasing rules, with 61% indicating at least one area is very negatively impacted — Figure 2: Level of overall concern, as displayed in the survey report

Policy that was supposedly designed to make lives better has had the opposite effect: it is seen by many as having an adverse impact on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.

I am heartened as this tells me that, despite the government’s best attempts at spin, the wider public is listening to disabled people and families.

The wider public is hearing us, understands the pressures we are under, and values our quality of life. They understand that the provision of adequate and flexible supports means improved wellbeing and ability to be independent.

It might be a little thing, but it is a glimmer of joy in a harsh landscape, and I am thankful for it.

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