Disabled people are increasingly in employment but the pay gap between them and the rest of the workforce remains large, according to official UK data, prompting calls for policymakers to act as the weakening labour market threatens further gains.
In the three months to September, 53.2 per cent of the people with a physical or mental disability were in employment, two percentage points higher than the same period last year, and up from 43.4 per cent in 2013, the first year for which the Office for National Statistics figures are available.
Employment rates among non-disabled people are still much higher, at 81.8 per cent.
Ahead of the international day of disabled persons on December 3, the ONS also compiled the first disability pay gap data, which showed a 12.2 per cent difference in pay between those with and without a disability.
Despite the greater participation in the job market, the pay gap has been largely unchanged over the past four years, the period covered by the ONS analysis.
“It’s encouraging to see progress has been made on narrowing the disability employment gap, but there is still a way to go to achieve equality of opportunity,” said Jill Miller, diversity and inclusion adviser at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.
“Too many disabled people continue to face prejudice and struggle to get into employment or to remain in work, and are less likely to progress to senior management roles or to work in professional occupations.”
Near record low unemployment rates and labour shortages have helped people often left out of the labour force, such as disabled people, single mothers and older workers, find a job, but the latest weakness in the labour market bodes ill for any further gain, economists warned.
“People with disabilities have been among the biggest beneficiaries of Britain’s recent jobs boom — accounting for a third of the overall employment in the last decade,” said Nye Cominetti, economic analyst at the Resolution Foundation, a think-tank.
However, he added that “with the labour market showing signs of softening, policy action will be needed to further boost employment among disabled people, rather than relying on the economic cycle to deliver”.
The difference in pay largely reflects disabled people being under-represented in professional occupations, where pay is higher, and a lower proportion having earned a university degree.
Mental impairment is a much greater cause of pay difference than physical issues. Last year, the pay gap for mental disability was nearly 19 per cent, compared with less than 10 per cent of those with physical disabilities.
Nearly one in five people aged 16 to 64 was disabled in 2018, using the government statistical service’s harmonised definition. The proportion rises to nearly one in four in north-east England, while it is smallest in London at 15 per cent.
Ahead of the general election on December 12, the Conservatives have promised £74m in three years of funding for community care for those with learning disabilities and autism. Labour has announced proposals including an increased carers’ allowance, raised basic rate of support for children with disabilities, and meeting the cost of care for those who are severely disabled.
The ONS also looked at other aspects of life for people with disabilities in the UK. Disabled people, for example, are more likely to be victims of crime than non-disabled, with women and children particularly affected.
In the year ending March 2019, disabled women were more than twice as likely to have experienced domestic abuse than non-disabled women. Last year, about 21 per cent of disabled children experienced some sort of crime, such as theft, robbery or violence, a proportion that is more than double that for non-disabled children.
