« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Disability and Employment in Scotland: A Review of the Evidence Base
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CONTEXT TO THE STUDY
1. Access to and sustainability of employment for disadvantaged and excluded groups is seen as of paramount importance in promoting social justice and Closing the Opportunity Gap - key concerns of the Scottish Executive. Disabled people are much less likely than non-disabled people to be economically active and households including a disabled person are more likely to have very low incomes. While employment is a policy area reserved to Westminster, responsibility for tackling barriers to employment for disabled people is shared between the Scottish and UK Governments. Helping people to obtain and retain work is a reserved matter, which means that policies such as the New Deal, tax/benefit reform and the National Minimum Wage are all reserved. However, these policies are delivered in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing Scottish organisations and the Scottish Executive has particular responsibility for training and skills enhancement.
THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
2. The central aims of this research review were to identify and discuss the evidence that is available through research and statistical data sources on the employment position of disabled people; to highlight where evidence is available, the role played by policy interventions to facilitate and promote labour market participation by disabled people; and to identify gaps in the current research base. The main objectives of the review were to explore the evidence base relating to the following themes:
Rates of employment for disabled people within different types of mainstream employment, including self employment
Barriers identified as standing in the way of accessing or participating in mainstream employment, including self employment
The range of support mechanisms on offer to support access to and retention within employment, including self employment (e.g. Access to Work and direct payments) and the extent to which these are successful in promoting labour market participation for disabled people
The role of specialist programmes and ILM initiatives for disabled people both in terms of practices within these initiatives and the long term trajectories of those who participate in them
The evidence relating to the career trajectories and progression of disabled people within open employment and the factors that contribute to allowing career progression
The evidence relating to the potential business benefits of continued employment of disabled people over the long term
The impact of the Disability Discrimination Act on disabled people's participation in employment both in terms of access to and opportunities within the labour market
The financial position of disabled people relative to others within the labour market, and the financial costs of work and disability both presently and in terms of pension protection.
RESEARCH METHODS
3. The research review included a literature review and statistical analysis. A range of published and unpublished literature was gathered using searches of social science databases and university catalogues and evaluations, reports and information on ongoing work was requested from a range of organisations and academics and discussions were held with key policy makers, practitioners and researchers in employment. The Scottish Executive supplied Census data, Labour Force Survey data and information on benefits receipt for the statistical analysis.
THE MAIN FINDINGS
4. The report outlines a wide range of findings in relation to the employment position of disabled people. Some of the most important findings are:
Up to a fifth of the population of Scotland are affected by disability
Despite economic growth and general improvements in the health of the population the number of people claiming disability related benefits continues to increase while the employment rate of disabled people remains low with employment programmes and equality legislation having only a modest impact on overall employment rates
The incidence of disability, the employment rate of disabled people and the level of incapacity benefit receipt varies across Scotland with the Glasgow area having the highest incidence of disability, the lowest levels of employment of disabled people and the highest levels of incapacity benefit receipt
Disabled people are far less likely to have qualifications than people without disabilities and this clearly has a negative effect on their employment outcomes
When they are in employment disabled people are far more likely to be employed in low level occupations and are therefore likely to have lower incomes than people without disabilities
Although the majority of economically inactive people in Scotland have a limiting long term illness, social justice and economic development policies have only recently begun to focus on this group
Many different organisations are involved in providing employment services in Scotland resulting in some duplication of effort and disjunctions between the policies of Jobcentre Plus and the Scottish Executive
Programmes aimed at disabled people rarely succeed in placing more than a fifth of participants in work but there is debate over the best way to measure programme outcomes particularly considering the extensive range of barriers which disabled people face
The debate about whether policies for disabled people should be mainstreamed or impairment specific has not been resolved and there is some evidence that access to mainstream employment services may be restricted for disabled people.
RESEARCH GAPS
5. The report identified a number of areas where information is lacking in relation to disability and employment. Research gaps were identified in the following areas:
There is a lack of Scottish data in relation to Jobcentre Plus programme evaluations and evaluations of the effects of legislative developments such as the Disability Discrimination Act and National Minimum Wage
There is a lack of information on 'what works' in terms of successful employment policies for disabled people and more work needs to be done to develop outcomes measures for employment programmes for disabled people
More research on the impact of key differences in disabled people's experiences of employment and employment services in relation to nature of impairment, age, gender, ethnicity, social class and locality would be useful
There is a need for more research which focuses on disabled people's own experiences of employment and employment services
There is a need for more research which focuses on employers' perspectives
More research needs to be carried out to increase our understanding of disabled children and young people's experiences in school and their destinations on leaving school and to enable us to explain the wide discrepancy in qualifications between people with and without a disability
Longitudinal research which tracks the career development of disabled graduates would be useful
More research needs to be carried out to determine the complex nature of the various barriers to work for disabled people which may not necessarily be connected with their state of health
The spatial dimension of disability and its interaction with employment, income and poverty requires further analysis.
IMPLICATIONS FOR STAKEHOLDERS
6. The report has a number of implications for key stakeholders.
7. The Scottish Executive and its agencies should:
Continue their efforts to revitalise areas of long term industrial decline in Scotland
Collaborate more closely with their UK counterparts to ensure that Scottish policies and initiatives articulate with those developed at UK level
Ensure that the social justice and equality agendas are well linked in relation to disabled people
Ensure there is close collaboration between health and employment services
Ensure that disabled people are able to access employment programmes
Ensure that the work of different agencies providing employment and training support to disabled people at local and national level are well articulated.
8. The UK Government and its agencies should:
Consider the extent to which current programmes are removing the barriers to work for disabled people, particularly those facing multiple barriers
Develop policies which recognise the link between adult and child poverty, poor housing, poor educational outcomes, economic inactivity and disability
Continue and extend debates about the merit of specialist or mainstream services
Continue to debate the ways in which programme outcomes should be measured, particularly the balance to be maintained between 'hard' and 'soft' outcome measures
Ensure that disability issues are well understood and addressed and that Scottish issues are recognised.
9. Disabled people should:
Continue to pressurise UK and Scottish governments for better access to education, training and employment and to ensure they are involved in policy development and evaluation
Engage in the promotion of health and safety in the workplace and pressurise employers to make the necessary changes
Request accessible information from relevant agencies on the impact of policy developments.
10. Employers should:
Be much more closely involved in the planning and monitoring of employment initiatives for disabled people
Increase their understanding of the factors which contribute to healthy working environments, particularly those affecting employees' mental health and well being
Be better informed about the support requirements of disabled employees and those on work placements.
« Previous | Contents | Next »