Poverty
Disabled people and the poverty trap
A recent report commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that disabled people are far more likely to live in poverty than non-disabled people.
The report, published in December 2006, found that a disabled person's risk of being on a low income is much greater than that of a non-disabled person.
It also highlighted the fact that the proportion of disabled workers in either full or part-time work who receive low pay is 10% higher than that of non-disabled workers and that disabled people faced ‘formidable barriers' in finding paid work.
A campaign being run by the newspaper Disability Now has highlighted the fact that at 30%, the poverty rate for disabled adults is twice that for non-disabled adults, and is higher than a decade ago.
The Disability Rights Commission's Disability Agenda, launched on 14 February 14 2007, identifies poverty, in particular child poverty, as a disability issue pointing out that:
- A national strategy is needed to aid retention of those who become disabled while in work, to stop them falling into poverty.
- There is also a need to raise the expectations of support staff working to help disabled people into work, so that assumptions are not made about disabled individuals' abilities.
- Benefit rules may discourage recipients from engaging in voluntary work, public life or learning, which might be building blocks back into paid work. Welfare reform is unlikely to maximise either employment opportunities or income security and well-being until those contradictions are overcome.
Disability confidence and the poverty trap
The effect that the disabled poverty trap has on the economy of the UK cannot be underestimated.
Around 2.7m people are claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB) at a cost of around £12.5bn a year – despite the fact that there is a widely acknowledged skills shortage among people of working age in the UK.
It is also known that one in five unemployed disabled people want to work – this is compared to one in fifteen non-disabled people.
Companies which get it right on disability are good for the economy and of course good for disabled people who want to get out of poverty and into paid employment.
Disability Confidence and skilled disabled people
A disability confident business will be able to profit from the many highly skilled disabled people who are facing barriers to getting into work and out of poverty in the following ways:
- Attraction and retention of the best people
- Higher productivity and reduced costs
- Innovative products and services
- Excellent customer relationships, satisfaction and retention
- Strong stakeholder relationships and enhanced reputation
Like non-disabled people, many disabled people are highly talented and the type of work available should reflect this.
Around 45,000 disabled students in the UK study at university every year and 6% of first class honours degrees are given to students with disabilities. However the fact remains that at least 1.5m part time disabled workers are in jobs that do not reflect their true potential.
Retaining disabled colleagues
Job retention is extremely important if disabled people are to avoid falling into poverty. Most disabled people are not born with a disability and 2% of the workforce is expected to become disabled during the course of a year.
Although disabled people have protection under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), a MORI poll for the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) in 2005 found that 28% of non disabled workers felt their employers would not make adjustments to help them stay in work following a serious accident. This was particularly true for those working for smaller businesses.
A disability confident organisation that invests in its employees and adopts a positive approach to disability will benefit from increased confidence, be more able to retain talented disabled staff and find increased loyalty and enthusiasm among all staff.
The role of Government
Central Government has a key role to play in closing the poverty gap for disabled people.
However, the Public Accounts Committee has recently been highly critical of Government led employment schemes for disabled people.
The Public Accounts Committee's report, released on 16 January 2007, said that of more than one million on incapacity benefit who want to work, only 160,000 take advantage of state schemes, due to failures in the system.
The Committee also claimed "unreliable" data from the Department of Work and Pensions made it "impossible" to assess the benefits of the £320m being spent.
Anne McGuire, minister for disabled people, has replied: –We intend to reduce the number of contracts and simplify our processes to increase efficiency and improve customer service.–
Escaping the trap
Poverty and disadvantage disproportionately affect disabled people, and employers have a vital role to play in lifting disabled people out of the poverty trap.
Employers that build a convincing business case for recruiting disabled people will not only give them the chance to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The business benefits of this approach are aligned to promoting flexible working and ensuring the recruitment of the best people for the job.
Links
Public Accounts Committee report, ‘Gaining and retaining a job: the Department for Work and Pensions' support for disabled people' can be found at www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmpubacc.htm
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