ONS report into disability pay gap

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest report into Disability pay gaps in the UK: 2018 which has found that in 2018 the median pay for non-disabled workers was £12.11 an hour, against £10.63 for disabled workers.

Disabled employees with a mental impairment had the largest pay gap at 18.6%, while for those with a physical impairment the pay gap was 9.7% and those with other impairments had the narrowest gap, at 7.4%. Around a quarter of the difference in mean pay can be accounted for by factors such as occupation and qualification.

The disability pay gap was wider for men than for women. London had the widest disability pay gap at 15.3%, with the narrowest in Scotland, at 8.3%. The gap was the widest for those in their 30s and 40s, the ONS said in its report.

CIPD's Dr Jill Miller said, "Too many disabled people continue to face prejudice and struggle to get into employment or to remain in work, and are less likely to progress to senior management roles or to work in professional occupations. Businesses that aren't inclusive - and don't manage health and disability effectively - risk missing out on hard-working and talented individuals, and damaging their reputation among staff and customers."

Across the occupation groups, the widest pay gap of 13.1% was seen for managers, directors and senior officials. The remaining occupation groups have disability pay gaps in the range of 1 to 5%.