What 'basket' of expnses is ESA expected to cover?

During a financial review of my severe LD son, I learned that he is not expected to use ESA or DLA fir holidays. The reason given as that people on lowest legal wage could not afford holiday.

Made me think...what is the ESA payment meant to cover?

In other words, when the Government work out the pay rate of ESA, what do they include in their basket of 'expenses' that ESA expected to cover?

Hi and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

ESA is an income replacement benefit, the equivalent of JSA, it is supposed to be instead of a wage. Therefore it is meant to cover everything a wage would cover. There are no rules regarding this, it is entirely up to the claimant how it is spent. If that includes a holiday it is no-one else's business!

DLA/PIP is ostensibly to pay extra expenses associated with being disabled but, again, there are no rules on how it is spent.

Thank you. I'll post under a new topic to discuss how ESA & DLA should be considered by LA's assessing Care Contributions.