Disability

Disability statistics

The following statistics have been taken from the UK's Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey, Sept - Dec 2006, for people of working age only.

• Nearly one in five people of working age (6.9 million, or 19%) in Great Britain are disabled
• Only about half of disabled people of working age are in work (50%), compared with 80% of non disabled people of working age
• Almost half (45%) of the disabled population of working age in Britain are economically inactive i.e. outside of the labour force. Only 16% of non-disabled people of working age are economically inactive
• There are currently 1.2 million disabled people in the UK who are available for and want to work.
• Employment rates vary greatly according to the type of impairment a person has. Disabled people with mental health problems have the lowest employment rates of all impairment categories at only 21%. The employment rate for people with learning disabilities is 26%. 
• Disabled people are more than twice as likely as non-disabled people to have no qualifications (26% as opposed to 10%)
• The average gross hourly pay for disabled employees is £10.31 compared to £11.39 for non disabled employees.

Definitions
ILO unemployed: The International Labour Organisation definition of unemployment covers people who are: out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight; or out of work and have accepted a job that they are waiting to start in the next fortnight.

Available for and want to work: This includes those who are ILO unemployed and those who are economically inactive and would like to work. The percentage totals are a % of the inactive population, not the total working age population.

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