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According to the government, reducing UK disability assistance, which can drive hundreds of thousands of people into poverty, is to bring people to work.
But the promise that work will pay may sound hollow for many affected people. On average, people with disabilities are paid almost a fifth more than their non-disabled colleagues, according to the union council. The “disability wage gap,” which has been getting worse since 2013, is equivalent to £2.35 per hour, or 54 days a year when disabled employees work for free.
As the government aims to cut down welfare bills and drive more people into the workforce, experts warn that such inequality is a barrier to disabled people coming and going to work. To support more jobs, they say the government must push to ensure a more balanced salary rather than cut profits.
Bailey Smith, a wheelchair-based Sustainability Manager and DEI consultant who is a NeuroDivergent, says one factor that contributes to pay gaps is the inequality of training he has experienced in his past jobs.
“If others have promotional opportunities through the training experience, I was ruled out of these with the excuse that ‘you are only desk-based’ or ‘training didn’t have access to the wheelchair’,” says Smith. It stifled career progression and led to lower wages than colleagues in similar roles.
It is not uncommon to experience a lack of development that traps people in low-wage occupations without many career progressions. “After a long-term labor market failure… Many disabled workers have been left without proper support for job progress,” says Nicola Smith, TUC’s policy director. “Too many… It’s been amortized.”
The lack of revenue is more intense as people with disabilities often have to go further with cash. British charity Scope says the “disability price” was an extra £1,067 last month. Costs range from bills for payments for professional medical devices, over-the-counter medications, or taxis due to mobility issues.
These additional costs are one of the purposes of individual independent payments and are subject to stricter eligibility criteria under reform. Scope estimates that around 16% of PIP claimants (approximately 600,000 people) are on work. They may use support to help them access employment, for example, to make commuting easier.
Kiera Roche, the founder and chief executive of Limbpower, a charity for people with limb disabilities, says people with disabilities are “scary of death” about losing government support. “Where do you find this money when you live on the Breadline?”
But welfare cuts are just part of the government’s broader mission of “helping people in good work and economic independence.”
Last month we launched consultations that could lead to businesses that require more than 250 employees to legally report differences in wages for disabled and non-disabled staff. The minister is also introducing a £1 billion employment package that provides coordinated help for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter work.
“The broken system of the social security system we inherited is that it can work and it will make people who are meant to be there to fail,” the government said.
James Taylor, executive director of Scope’s strategy, says he was disappointed with the minister who “slid down” his consultation “on the same day he announced one of the biggest cuts in disability benefits in memory.” He adds that reducing benefits simply “immortalizes” the inequality created by wage disparities.
Meanwhile, advocates like Bailey Smith say more people can thrive at work when employers provide support such as assistive technology, hybrid working, and workplace training. “Disabled people cannot succeed unless their job needs are met.”
