Scottish Government Equality Outcomes: Disability Evidence Review

5 Employment

5.1 This section examines what is known about disabled people's employment rates, and explores the barriers and enablers for disabled people to work. It closes with a review of pay gaps.

Employment rates

5.2 The Annual Population Survey (2010)^[24] shows that:

• Between 2004 and 2010, the employment rate (16-64) for people with a disability in Scotland increased from 42.4% to 46.9%. This compares to an overall employment rate of 71.0% in 2010.
• 68% of employed disabled people in Scotland work in the private sector, while 32% work in the public sector.

5.3 Figure 4 compares rates for disabled and non-disabled people, from the Annual Population Survey in 2009^[25].

Figure 4: Employment rates in Scotland, 2009 (Source: Annual Population Survey, 2009)

NOTES:

1. Employment rate is the number of people aged 16-64 in employment expressed as a percentage of the population aged 16-64.

2. Economic activity rate is the number of people either in employment or unemployed as a percentage of the population aged 16-64.

3. Economic inactivity rate is the number of people aged 16-64 neither in employment nor unemployed as a percentage of the population aged 16-64.

5.4 The position of Scotland's equality groups: revisiting resilience in 2011^[26] reports the changes in employment rates over a two-year period 2009-11 (see Figure 5). This shows that there has been a general shift out of inactivity into either unemployment or employment for those with disabilities, and it is notable that the change in employment rate is positive for disabled people, but negative for non-disabled people.

Figure 5: Economic Activity Rates of the Population aged 16-64 by Disability Status, and Change on Two Years, Scotland, Apr-Jun 2011 (Source: Scottish Government Social Research (2011) The position of Scotland's equality groups: revisiting resilience)

5.5 This report also observes that the pattern shown in Figure 5 is not the same across both genders. Women with disabilities fared slightly better in the labour market over the same two year period than their male counterparts: disabled women's employment rate rose by 3.9 percentage points, whilst men with disabilities saw a 3.5 percentage point increase in their employment rate,.

5.6 The Office for Disability Issues report Fulfilling Potential: Next Steps^[27] (2012) gives UK-wide trends in employment for disabled people since 2002. The overall trend has been an increase in the employment rate for disabled people (this is a long-term trend, now standing at 46.3% overall), and a reduction in the employment rate gap which has decreased by 5.8 percentage points since 2002, and stood at 29.9% in 2012. The Office for Disability Issues refers to its detailed analysis of the Labour Force Survey 2012 to show that this shortfall is evident across the whole range of jobs and careers, but it is especially marked in senior management, the professions (including medicine), construction trades, engineering and IT, the arts and media, food, and hospitality. The employment gap is less wide in clerical jobs (especially in the public sector), nursing and caring, shop and sales work, and cleaning.

5.7 The Office for Disability Issues continues to explain that UK employment trends have been largely driven by an increase in the employment rate for disabled people over the age of 50 (from 34.9% in 2001 to 41.7% in 2012), as a result of more disabled people remaining in the work force. Trends in quarterly flows show that the number of people in employment aged over 50, who acquire a disability and remain in employment, has increased by 160,000 (58%) since 2001. The Office for Disability Issues report suggests that maintaining and further improving retention rates for people acquiring impairments may be a priority area for future policy development.

5.8 The Office for Disability Issues identifies different factors affecting young disabled people. There has been the same UK trend towards staying on in education as for non-disabled people, but young disabled people are more likely to leave education and become unemployed than their non-disabled peers. The employment rate gap between disabled and non-disabled people increases from around the age of 21 or 22 and by 25 has reached the average level for adults. This shows how disabled people are less likely than non-disabled people to achieve employment at these ages. However, having a degree level qualification can significantly improve employment outcomes. In 2009/10, 60% of disabled graduates were in employment six months after graduating, compared to 65% of non-disabled graduates.

5.9 However, the Annual Population Survey (2009) observes that overall employment figures offer only a partial picture, claiming that when impairment type is considered, it is clear that employment rates vary significantly by type of impairment^[28]. Table 5 shows that people with depression or learning disabilities experience lower rates of employment compared with the figure for all disabled people (which is already much lower than for non-disabled people).

Table 5: Employment rates of disabled people by main impairment type - Scotland 2009 (Source: Annual Population Survey, 2009)

Impairment Type	(%)
Problems or disabilities connected with arms or hands	45.3
Problems or disabilities connected with legs or feet	46.8
Problems or disabilities connected with back or neck	41.2
Difficulty in seeing (while wearing spectacles or contact lenses)	47.5
Difficulty in hearing	58.9
Speech impediment	*
Severe disfigurement, skin conditions, allergies	62.6
Chest or breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis	58.1
Heart, blood pressure or blood circulation problems	52.3
Stomach, liver, kidney or digestive problems	57.8
Diabetes	67.9
Depression, bad nerves or anxiety	25.4
Epilepsy	38.9
Severe or specific learning difficulties (mental handicap)	23.8
Mental illness, or suffer from phobia, panics or other nervous disorders	*
Progressive illness not included elsewhere ( e.g. cancer, multiple sclerosis)	42.2
Other health problems or disabilities	53.8
All disabled people	45.9

NOTES:

1. Data are for those people aged 16-64

2. * data suppressed as estimates below reliable threshold

Enablers and barriers to employment

5.10 The Life Opportunities Survey (2011)^[29] explored the factors that disabled people felt helped them gain and remain in employment. Table 6 shows that reduced or modified working hours, duties and work areas/buildings were all seen as 'enablers' to work.

Table 6: Employment Enablers for employed adults by impairment status (adults aged 16 or over) (Source: Life Opportunities Survey, 2011)

Enabler	Percentage of adults without impairment	Percentage of adults with impairment	Percentage of all adults
Modified hours or days or reduced work hours	16	21	17
Tax credits	8	11	8
Changes to work area or equipment	5	10	6
Modified duties	3	7	4
A job coach or personal assistant	5	5	5
Building modifications	1	4	2
Other equipment or services	2	3	2
None of these	71	59	68
Sample size (=100%)	13,690	3,290	16,980

5.11 The Life Opportunities Survey also explores the barriers to employment for both disabled people and non-disabled people. The findings in Table 7 show that disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to face barriers to work because of lack of confidence and attitudes of employers. Disabled people also cited health conditions, impairments and disability as barriers to work.

Table 7: Barriers to employment opportunities for employed adults by impairment status, 2009/11 (Adults aged 16 and over who were in employment but were limited in the type or amount of paid work that they could do) (Source: Life Opportunities Survey, 2011)

Barrier	Percentage of adults without impairment	Percentage of adults with impairment	Percentage of all adults
At least one barrier to employment opportunities	18	33	21
A health condition, illness or impairment	4	35	13
Family responsibilities	44	29	39
Lack of job opportunities	16	17	17
Lack of qualifications/experience/skills	12	14	12
Disability related reasons	1	13	4
Attitudes of employers	8	11	9
Caring responsibilities	7	10	8
Difficulty with transport	6	9	7
Anxiety/Lack of confidence	2	8	4
Affects receipts of benefits	3	6	4
Lack of help or assistance	2	5	3
Attitudes of colleagues	1	3	2
Difficulty getting into buildings	-	2	1
Difficulty using facilities	-	2	1
Lack of special aids or equipment	..	2	1
Other reasons	38	25	34
Sample size (=100%)	2,570	1,080	3,650

NOTES:

1. See the Introduction of the Life Opportunities Survey for the definition of impairment status.

2. Respondents were asked to select all barriers that applied to them from the list of options provided. All respondents regardless of impairment status could select these response options.

5.12 Table 8 shows the findings of the Life Opportunities Survey concerning barriers to unemployed disabled people.

Table 8: Barriers to employment opportunities for unemployed adults seeking work by impairment status, 2009/11 (Adults aged 16 and over who were unemployed and seeking work and were limited in the type or amount of paid work that they could do) (Source: Life Opportunities Survey, 2011)

Barrier	Percentage of adults without impairment	Percentage of adults with impariment	Percentage of all adults
At least one barrier to employment opportunities	31	58	39
A health condition, illness or impairment	8	45	25
Lack of job opportunities	40	43	41
Difficulty with transport	24	29	27
Lack of qualifications/experience/skills	24	28	25
Family responsibilities	39	26	33
Disability related reasons	..	23	11
Attitudes of employers	6	20	12
Anxiety/Lack of confidence	6	16	11
Affects receipt of benefits	5	13	9
Caring responsibilities	7	10	8
Lack of help or assistance	5	7	6
Attitudes of colleagues	..	4	2
Lack of special aids or equipment	..	3	2
Difficulty getting into buildings	..	2	1
Difficulty using facilities	..	2	1
Other reasons	28	13	22
Sample size (=100%)	330	260	590

NOTES:

1. See the Introduction of the Life Opportunities Survey for the definition of impairment status.

2. Respondents were asked to select all barriers that applied to them from the list of options provided. All respondents regardless of impairment status could select these response options.

3. The definition of unemployed is not consistent with the International Labour Organisation definition as availability to start working in the two weeks after interview is not checked. For more information regarding the International Labour Organisation definition see the Glossary (Chapter 21) of this report.

5.13 In Fulfilling potential - the discussions so far^[30] the Office for Disability Issues also looked at enablers to employment. It found that employed adults with mobility and dexterity impairments were more likely to require building modifications, and those with a mental health condition were more likely to need a job coach or personal assistant.

5.14 Research by Adams and Oldfield^[31] (2012) also explored the barriers disabled people faced in relation to employment. The priority areas their research identified for improvement were tackling attitudinal barriers and creating a better workplace culture - so that employers do not make assumptions about disability or underestimate the capabilities and contribution of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. This would remove some barriers at recruitment and in promotion opportunities.

• Addressing inflexibility in work patterns - disabled people face challenges associated with how the working day and working week are arranged, and with restrictions on leave or breaks. They have encountered a lack of awareness and imagination about how some of these challenges can be addressed.
• Increasing support at line management level - key in ensuring workloads and tasks are managed effectively, and in fostering an environment where an employee's needs can be identified and communicated.

5.15 The (then) Scottish Executive's review of communication support needs^[32] in 2007 also highlighted the awareness and attitudes of employers who tend engage staff with communication support needs at levels below their abilities. Individuals with communication support needs were found to be more likely to be in paid employment if they had a lower level of communication support needs, were male and white (suggesting intersections with gender and ethnicity), and were otherwise in good health. Barriers to employment for people with communication support needs include noise, tasks requiring speed, speaking to groups of people, the attitudes of others and their knowledge about communication difficulties.

Pay gaps

5.16 Metcalf (2009)^[33] examined pay gaps across all equality groups. In terms of the disability pay gap, Metcalf identified differences between the characteristics of disabled and non-disabled people as potential contributors (p64). This is because disabled people tend to be older and they also tend to be less educated, to have fewer qualifications, to be in lower level jobs and to have greater work absence. Barham and Begum (2005)^[34], for example, found that 5.9% of employees who were Disability Discrimination Act (1995) disabled were absent in a given week with sickness absence, compared with 2.5% of non-disabled employees: the authors suggest that their impairment may restrict their employment and consequent earnings.

5.17 The pay gap varies with severity of impairment. Burchardt (2000)^[35] found that, whilst disabled men earned on average 24% less than non-disabled men, those with a less severe impairment earned 14% less and those with a higher degree of impairment earned 40% less.