Disabled people in employment: Part 2

Part 2: supporting disabled people: what works?

Summary:

There is a reported 30-percentage-point gap between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people. In the second feature of a two-part report, John Ballard explores what employers and occupational health can do to support people with disabilities to return to, remain in, or access work.

Disabled people are underrepresented in the workforce and a ‘disability employment gap’ of around 30 percentage points has persisted for many years, despite government efforts to narrow it. Part one of this report highlighted the lack of evidence to support claims by the UK government that its various disability-support and job-retention initiatives had improved the employment rate of disabled people¹. It also highlighted the considerable fluidity in population-level statistics on disability and employment, with many people changing their self-reported disability status – from being disabled to non-disabled and vice versa – and from being in or out of work…

 

Dr John Ballard is editor of Occupational Health [at Work]

Author: Ballard J

Tags disability

Occupational Health at Work December/January 2023/2024 (vol. 20/4) pp20-32

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