Disability employment gap narrows slightly but still wide

Mon,2 July 2018
News Education

Commons briefing: People with disabilities in employment

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There were an estimated 3.7 million people of working age (16-64) with disabilities in employment in January-March 2018, an employment rate of 50.7%. The employment rate for people without disabilities was 81.1%.

376,000 people with disabilities of working age were unemployed. People with disabilities have an unemployment rate of 9.1%. The unemployment rate for people without disabilities was 3.6%.

3.3 million people with disabilities of working age were economically inactive. These people were not in work and not looking for work. The economic inactivity rate for those with disabilities was 44.2%.

Between January-March 2014 and January-March 2018, the number of women with disabilities in employment increased by around 474,000, an increase of 30%. Over the same period, the number of men with disabilities in employment increased by around 290,000, an increase of 21%.

Ahead of the arc a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Disability offers Government a plan to support a million disabled people into work.

See also our response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy consultation “Building our Industrial Strategy”

Disabled people in employment