Disabled people often find it more difficult to both find and keep work than the rest of society. Now the UK Parliament’s Work And Pensions Commitee wants to try and find out why with help from the public.
They have launched an inquiry looking at the ‘disability employment gap’ – aiming to investigate the gap between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people and look at how the DWP can better support disabled people in the labour market.
The most recent survey shows that
53.2% of disabled people were in employment, compared to 81.8% of non-disabled people. Although this is a slight improvement on previous figures there is still a significant gap.
The Government provides support programmes and funding to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to get into, and stay in, work. These include Access to Work; Fit for Work; the Work and Health Programme, and access to specialist support via Jobcentre Plus.
Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “Almost one in five working-age people has a disability or long-term health condition. For some, this has little impact on their ability to work. But too often, having a disability or a long-term health condition means dropping out of the labour market entirely. With the right support, this can often be avoided. The Committee wants to look broadly at the support DWP offers to disabled people and to consider how this could be improved to help people find, stay, and progress in work.”
This new inquiry wants to hear from disabled people about your experiences. You can take part by answering these questions as the inquiry calls for evidence. You can submit evidence until Friday 18 December 2020.
The survey is also available in a range of different formats, including sign language, easy read and audio. If you want to find out more you can email workpencom@parliament.uk or call 020 7219 8976/text relay 18001 020 7219 8976
