Disability Pay Gap Widens

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15 June 2018

Disabled workers earn £2,730 a year less on average than non-disabled workers says a new TUC report meaning the disability pay gap has increased to its highest level since 2013.

In 2017 average hourly pay for disabled workers was £9.90, compared to £11.40 for non-disabled workers – a disability pay gap of £1.50 an hour and £2,730 a year. The disability pay gap has now reached 15% – its highest level since the government began publishing comparable data using the 2010 Equality Act definition of disability.

The new report finds that disabled people are less likely to be in employment – and when employed they are paid less than their non-disabled peers.

The other key findings on the disability pay gap are:

Disabled workers are more likely to work in lower-paid occupations than non-disabled workers.

Fewer disabled people have higher levels of education which may make it harder to get jobs with higher rates of pay. But even when disabled workers have the same level of education a pay gap remains.

Disabled women face a larger pay gap than disabled men. Compared to non-disabled men, the pay gap is 13% for disabled men and 22% for disabled women.

More disabled workers are part-time (36.4%) than non-disabled workers (23.4%), which partly accounts for the gap.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Too many disabled people face lower pay and worse jobs than their non-disabled peers. New rules to make bosses reveal gender pay gaps have been successful at shining a light on the problem. We’d like the government to consider a similar law requiring employers to publish their disability pay gap, along with the steps they will take to close it.

Picture: The disability pay gap has increased to its highest level since 2013 when reporting began.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 15 June 2018

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