Data file for Disability Living Allowance
Number of Disability Living Allowance claimants by age group and gender.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was introduced in April 1992 and it combined the benefits previously covered by Attendance Allowance and Mobility Allowance. It is paid to people who become disabled before the age of 65. DLA consists of two components, the care component and the mobility component. The mobility component is not available to children under the age of 3. There are three rates of the care component and two rates of the mobility component. People who are not expected to live longer than six months because they have a terminal illness qualify automatically. Once a claimant has been awarded DLA they will get it as long as they meet the conditions of entitlement. For detailed and up-to-date eligibility conditions and rules for claiming DLA see [DWP Website](http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/disability_liv_allowance.asp). Data shown here are derived from a 100% data source; the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) which is not subject to any sampling error. The dataset provides counts of total claimants and breakdowns by age, gender, duration on benefit and some benefit specific information. It is a snapshot in time and will therefore exclude a small number of clerically held cases. The snapshots are taken at quarterly intervals at the end of February (Q1), May (Q2), August (Q3) and November (Q4). A very small number of claimants who have an unknown age or gender are included within the area total but excluded from the age and gender breakdowns as they pose a small disclosure risk. The data in the WPLS datasets are not directly comparable to the annual individual level data previously released as they were a single snapshot at a point in time and did not reflect late notifications and removals from the systems. Rates per 100,000 of the total population are provided. Population data are from the small area population estimates published by the National Records of Scotland. Populations denominators for higher geographies are based on best-fit 2001 geographies. Source: Department for Work and Pensions. Enquiries email: [disseminationteam@dwp.gsi.gov.uk](mailto:disseminationteam@dwp.gsi.gov.uk)
Every effort has been made by the DWP to ensure that data do not allow the disclosure of confidential information and all counts have been adjusted using a variant of controlled rounding to base 5. Any counts that are shown as zero may not be a real zero.