Report: Now is the time

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has published a report to tackle the inequalities that exist between disabled and non-disabled people in the UK.

The report comes ahead of the government’s National Strategy for Disabled People and focusses on five areas of life where the largest barriers facing disabled people exist, including employment.

The CSJ believes that good quality employment is the best route out of poverty. However, disabled people face significant barriers to accessing employment opportunities.

Key findings

• The disability employment gap remains high, with only 52% of disabled people in work compared with 81% of non-disabled people.
• The disability employment gap has shrunk by seven percentage points in five years.
• Based on the current trends, the Commission estimates it will take 40 years to close the gap.

To improve the situation the Commission has proposed several reforms including: all young people with an Education Health and Care Plan are offered a fully-funded supported internship; and all large employers (250+ employees) to report the proportion of their workforce that is disabled.