In 2020, 8.4 million people of working age (16-64) reported that they are Disabled people make up 20% of the working-age population. 52 percent of disabled people between the ages of 16 and 64 were in employment compared with 81% are non-disabled. It is a gap that the Department for Work and Pensions would like to address, but good research on evidence-based policy solutions in this area is poorly grounded. New research by Taranee Chandola and Patrick Roxell suggests that “workplaces” such as flexible or part-time work, mentorship, training and support can help the government achieve its 10-year ambition to cut the employment gap for people with disabilities in half.
In the 2017 policy paper Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and DisabilityAnd DWP committed to seeing a number of Disabled work at work rises by 1 million from 3.5 to 4.5 million over the next 10 years.
When we talk about the disability employment gap we mean the difference between the number of people with disabilities who work compared to those without a disability. The gap is shown by people having to leave work due to ill health or developing physical or mental health problems while on the job, along with the fact that if you are disabled, your chances of getting a job are much lower in the first place. . The vast majority (83 percent) develop a disability while they work and once they do, they are less likely to be in work a year later.
There has been very little research in this area, particularly when it comes to looking at all of this on the round in order to get a bigger picture as it relates to all workers using some type of workplace accommodation or adapting to how, where and when they do the role. In order to provide sound policy recommendations that work for people with disabilities and employers, the government has been looking to develop a more comprehensive evidence base.
Rather than start with a person’s medical condition, we thought it might be useful to screen workers (regardless of their health status) who are able to access, for example, a technical solution that means they can perform a role they would not otherwise be able to, as well as a set of arrangements Flexibility such as work hours, modified duties, staying home, and access to a mentor.
We wanted to try to determine who and how these arrangements and adjustments help them stay in business.
barriers encountered
We benefited from information on more than 6,000 participants from the Life Opportunity Survey, which specifically looks at the barriers people with disabilities face in participating in various aspects of life including work.
About a third of the people we looked at who were at work reported some kind of impairment – trouble with sight, hearing, movement, pain, breathing, learning mental health or with a host of other conditions and disability-related issues. They were more likely to be unemployed after one year than their non-impaired peers, especially if their disability was related to mobility or skill, in which case they were three times more likely to be unemployed.
Workers with some type of disability or disability who modified work duties or hours were more likely to remain economically active (at work or looking for work) than those who reported no such accommodations.
modifications
A modified work area or equipment made workers more than twice as likely to stay on the job. In fact, the more adjustments reported, the more likely workers with disabilities are to enter the workforce after one year.
Of particular note is how true this is for workers with mental disabilities. Those without workplace accommodations were more than two-thirds (or 70 percent) less likely to remain employed than workers without a mental disability.
This glaring gap closed where two or more accommodations were reported. Also interesting was the fact that people with mental disabilities were much less likely than those who reported physical pain to report an increase in their workplace.
Looking at the broader picture of who has access to workplaces and why, the main reason was actually not related to disability at all, but to caring responsibilities.
The key things we learn from all this is that despite the evidence that workers with mental disabilities can benefit greatly from accommodations in the workplace, it is unlikely that their workplace will be modified to take this into account.
This is something that could be a focus for policy makers and employers looking to close the employment gap for people with disabilities. It should be especially useful in informing the managers and supervisors who have a critical role in creating healthy and inclusive workplaces where everyone can thrive and progress.
The role of workplace accommodation in explaining the employment gap for people with disabilities in the United Kingdom It is research conducted by Tarani Chandola and Patrick Roussel and published in Social Sciences and Medicine.
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