Fact Service May 2018

Issue 22

Disability pay gap at four-year high


The disability pay gap has increased to its highest level since 2013, a TUC report finds.


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.


The disability pay gap has now reached 15% — its highest level since 2013 when the government began publishing comparable data using the 2010 Equality Act definition of disability. 


The report says less than half (49.2%) of people with a disability under the Equality Act 2010 definition were in employment in the second quarter of 2017, compared with an employment rate of 80.6% among non-disabled workers. This meant there was disability employment gap of 31.4%.


The TUC wants to see a new law requiring employers to publish their disability pay gap along with an action plan to how they plan to close it.


https://www.tuc.org.uk/northern/news/disabled-workers-earn-%C2%A32730-year-less-average-non-disabled-workers-%E2%80%93-new-tuc-report