1. Department for Work and Pensions 1 Developing the Disability Employment Strategy Jacqui Hansbro and Lucy Brown 25 July 2013

2. Department for Work and Pensions 2 Purpose of the session To set out: The evidence about disabled people, employment and inactivity. The key themes for the Disability Employment Strategy. The process for developing the Disability Employment Strategy – and to seek your views

3. Department for Work and Pensions 3 Employment rates gaps have been narrowing for disabled people, although a significant gap still remains... 46.3% of disabled people are employed (3.2 million) 30.1 percentage point employment rate gap The overall ‘disability deficit’ is currently estimated at 23 percentage points

4. Department for Work and Pensions 4 …the story is less good for people who say their impairment limits the amount or type of work they can do… 1. The employment rate gap between the DDA “work limiting” group & non- disabled people is 43 percentage points 2. There has been an upward drift in the number of people saying they have an impairment. The statistics do not distinguish between disability, long term illness or ageing, or between mild and severe impairments

5. Department for Work and Pensions 5 ….and in particular for specific types of impairment. People with mental health conditions have an employment rate of under 15% For people with ‘depression or bad nerves’ it is 33%. This group is around 1.5 times bigger than the ‘mental health’ group

6. Department for Work and Pensions 6 Whilst the employment rate for older people has improved for both disabled and non-disabled people…. 1. Employment rates for older people have gone up from 35% to 41% in ten years 2. During 2011, around 1.7 million over-50s gained an impairment but stayed in employment – 55% more than in 2001 Age 16-24, excluding FT students 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 Non-disabled Disabled Age 50 to 64 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 Non-disabled Disabled

7. Department for Work and Pensions 7 …young disabled people are faring much worse in the labour market, like their non-disabled peers, and they have much lower employment and education attainment rates.… 3. Those who are DDA disabled and aged 18-24 are far more likely to be NEET (42.1%) than their non-disabled counterparts(18.6%). 2. The employment rate gap between young disabled and non-disabled people widens to 27.8 percentage points at age 23, then 36.2 percentage points at age 24. 1. Employment rates for young disabled people have dropped from 46% in 2001 to 36% in 2012. 4. Disabled people are around half as likely as non-disabled people to hold a degree level qualification and nearly three times as likely not to have any qualifications.

8. Department for Work and Pensions 8 Disabled people in employment work mostly in the private sector, in a wide variety of roles, but are still earning less…. Most disabled people (73%) work in the private sector (compared with 77% of non-disabled people) with only 26% in the public sector. Disabled people are particularly under-represented in senior management or professional jobs. This gap is less wide in clerical jobs, nursing and caring, shop and sales work, and cleaning. Disabled people earn less than their non-disabled counterparts, with a mean hourly wage of £12.15 in 2012 against £13.25 for non-disabled people.

9. Department for Work and Pensions 9 ….and many people leave employment with minimal or no intervention, and fall quickly into inactivity. Every year 300,000 people fall out of work onto benefits, of whom nearly half do so without having a period of sick leave first. The most commonly mentioned enablers to remain in work were modified hours or days or reduced work hours.

10. Department for Work and Pensions 10 And once disabled people fall into inactivity, they are very unlikely to move into employment… Movements in and out of disability are more common, as people acquire or overcome an impairment, or in some cases due to fluctuating conditions. Movements into work are rare. Each quarter only 1 in 100 disabled people moves from inactivity into work

11. Department for Work and Pensions 11 The inactive disabled population is very diverse, with a variety of different barriers to work… 1.5m over-55s Have work history but acquired impairment (typically vision or mobility) after age 40. Most consider themselves retired. Half have no qualifications 0.4m under-25s Learning or behavioural difficulties common. Only 1 in 8 limited ‘a lot’ by their condition. 70% still in education 0.3m prime age unemployed All actively seeking and available for work. Report lack of jobs as main barrier 0.4m prime age with mental health conditions Depression most common. Conditions often fluctuate. Only 1 in 10 expect to work in next year 1.2m prime age inactive Impairments often recently acquired, although 70% have not worked for 5+ years and only a third want a job. Up to 30% have A levels or degree

12. Department for Work and Pensions 12 Key themes for the Disability Employment Strategy Engaging employers; Improving the employment support offer for disabled people (both mainstream and specialist); Developing a personalised local offer; Building social support (peer group, mentoring, job clubs) Support for those with mental health conditions; Young people’s transitions; Retention in work; In-work progression; Self-employment.

13. Department for Work and Pensions 13 Our approach: We are taking a three stage approach to developing the disability employment strategy: Stage 1: engagement with Task & Finish Groups, stakeholders and disabled people. Stage 2: begin engagement with employers leading up to and flowing from the July conference. Stage 3: strategy published in the Autumn.

14. Department for Work and Pensions 14 Discussion questions Question 1 Who needs specialist employment support? And how do we make sure we are referring the right people to this support? Question 2 What are the key elements of specialist employment support that we should include in our new offer? Question 3 How can we adapt mainstream provision (both JCP regime and Work Programme) so that it better meets the needs of disabled people?

15. Department for Work and Pensions 15 Contact details If you have any further thoughts or ideas for the Disability Employment Strategy please e-mail us at: Disability.employmentstrategy@dwp.gsi.gov.uk