The role of disabled people in economic growth

The purpose of this debate is to discuss a motion on the role of disabled people in economic growth.

The motion calls on the Government to act immediately on its commitment to get one million more disabled people into employment by 2027; and further calls on the Government to increase awareness within the business community of the benefits of employing an inclusive workforce.

Over 7 million people of working age (16-64) in the UK are disabled or have a health condition, and 3.5 million of these are in work. 350,000 are unemployed (meaning that they are not in work but are actively looking for work) while 3.3 million are economically inactive (meaning they are not in work and are not looking for work).

In April to June 2017, 17% of working age people in the UK were disabled, yet only 11% of people who were in employment were disabled. In contrast 24% of people who were unemployed, and 37% of people who were economically inactive, were disabled.

In the 2017 conservative party manifesto, there was a commitment to get 1 million more disabled people into work over the next ten years. To meet this target there would have to be 4.5 million people in employment with disabilities by 2027, a growth of 29% on current levels.

Further data on disabled people in the workplace are available in the library briefing paper Key statistics on people with disabilities in employment.