Disability and the labour market: Results from the summer 2000 LFS

Labour Market Trends, May 2001 by Twomey, Breda

Feature

Key points

* Under a broad definition of disability, nearly one in five of the working-age population in private households in the United Kingdom was disabled in summer 2000. Out of a total of over 6.8 million, 3.6 million were men and 3.2 million were women.

* Some 36 per cent of those with disabilities reported problems with their musculo-skeletal systems as the main problem - 35 per cent for men, and 37 per cent for women.

* The economic activity rate for disabled people was around 52 per cent compared with 86 per cent for non-disabled people.

* There were 3.2 million disabled people in employment in summer 2000, an employment rate of 47 per cent, compared with 82 per cent for non-disabled people.

* The unemployment rate for disabled people was nearly twice that for non-disabled people, 9.5 per cent compared with 5.0 per cent. For disabled men, the rate was more than twice that for non-disabled men 10.7 per cent, compared with 5.3 per cent.

* Some 44 per cent of the economically inactive working-age population in the UK were disabled - 56 per cent for men, and 36 per cent for women.

Introduction

THE FIRST part of this article1 presents an overview of the disabled population in the UK, and examines disability by sex, region and type of health problem. This is followed by an exploration of some key indicators of disabled people's labour market participation, economic activity, employment, ILO unemployment and economic inactivity. Comparisons with non-disabled people are included to assess the extent of the gap which exists between disabled and non-disabled people's labour market participation. To reflect the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) and the complexity involved in defining 'disability', the Labour Force Survey (LFS) broadened the focus and number of questions on health and disability in spring 1997.(2) Following these changes, LFS respondents could be defined as either having a current long-term disability (covered by the DDA), or a work-limiting disability, or both (see technical note). All analyses in this article are based on a broad definition which includes all three criteria. The data are not seasonally adjusted and most of the analyses apply to people of working age, unless otherwise stated.

Disabled people in the United Kingdom

In summer 2000, nearly one in five people of working age in the UK private household population had a current long-term disability according to the LFS. This equates to over 6.8 million people (3.6 million men and 3.2 million women).

Disability rates tended to vary markedly across regions from 16 per cent in the South East to 23 per cent in Wales (see Table 1). There were also some variations within regions. For example 23 per cent of the working-- age population in South Yorkshire were disabled while the rate for West Yorkshire and the Rest of Yorkshire and the Humber was 19 per cent.

The likelihood of having a long-term disability or health problem is clearly related to age (see Figure 1). Slightly less than one in ten people aged 16-19 had a disability (10 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women). This rose to over one-fifth for those aged 45-49 (21 per cent for men, and 22 per cent for women) and over one-third for those aged 55-59 (35 per cent for men, and 37 per cent for women). For most age groups, women had a higher disability rate than men. The exception was for the 16-19 age group. The fact that men's overall working-age disability rate, at 19 per cent, was about the same as that for women was because `working age' includes men aged 60-64, while for women it only goes up to the age of 59. The disability rate for men aged 16-59 was 17 per cent, two percentage points lower than that for women in this age group.

The differential between regional disability rates was particularly high among older people (see Figure 2). The disability rate for the 50-59/64 age group was 44 per cent in the North East and 41 per cent in Wales and Northern Ireland, compared with only 27 per cent in the South East.

Types of health problems

Problems with their musculoskeletal systems (i.e. arms, legs, neck, back, hands and feet) was the most common type of disability and was the main problem reported for 36 per cent of respondents with disabilities (35 per cent for men, and 37 per cent for women). The next largest categories were:

* chest or breathing problems (13 per cent);

* heart, blood pressure and circulatory conditions (14 per cent for men, and 8 per cent for women); and

* mental illness (7 per cent for men, and 9 per cent for women).

Labour market position of the working-age disabled population

Figure 3 summarises the spectrum of labour market categories used in the LFS giving figures for disabled and non-disabled people. The following sections describe each of the main categories in turn.

Economic activity

In summer 2000, there were 28.9 million people of working age in the UK labour force, either in employment or ILO unemployed, of which 16.2 million were men and 12.7 million were women. Of this total, 12 per cent or 3.6 million had a current long-term disability or health problem. This equates to 2 million men of working age and 1.5 million women of working age with disabilities in the UK in summer 2000.