disability which limits both daily activity as well as work tend to experience especially poor outcomes when it comes to employment and pay. The analysis also explored the intersectionality of disability and ethnicity. It found that ethnic minority disabled people tend to face the combined disadvantage of both ethnicity and disability. Disabled Bangladeshi and Pakistani men experience particularly large pay gaps. Where statistically significant pay gaps are identified, the same characteristics are a contributory factor across several groups: concentration in part-time jobs; lack of high-level qualifications; and over-representation in lower-paid occupations. We find that part-time work is the most important factor for most groups, followed by occupation and education. However, characteristics tend to explain only a limited part of the pay gap; in all of our analyses the data can only explain a maximum of roughly half of the pay gap, and in several groups it accounts for less than that. This means that other factors are at play, potentially including discrimination. 7.3 Implications As above, this report has identified three areas which are associated with pay gaps: part-time work; qualifications; and occupation. This section discusses these issues and suggests areas for further investigation. An important factor associated with disability pay gaps is part-time work. The analysis here is unable to identify the underlying reasons why disabled people work part-time. However, it is the case that part-time work, especially in the private sector, is paid less per hour than full-time work. Further research could look into the extent to which different groups of disabled people are limited to part-time work, and whether this is due to the amount of work they can do, their skill levels or the jobs which they are offered by employers (or a combination of these). Disabled people’s overall level of qualification is another factor. This could be because of barriers and reduced opportunities in education, particularly in the case of a disabled person who has had an impairment from an early age. On the other hand, it could also be linked with the fact that older people are more likely to be disabled and they generally have lower qualifications than younger people.
disability which limits both daily activity as well as work tend to experience especially poor outcomes when it comes to employment and pay. The analysis also explored the intersectionality of disability and ethnicity. It found that ethnic minority disabled people tend to face the combined disadvantage of both ethnicity and disability. Disabled Bangladeshi and Pakistani men experience particularly large pay gaps. Where statistically significant pay gaps are identified, the same characteristics are a contributory factor across several groups: concentration in part-time jobs; lack of high-level qualifications; and over-representation in lower-paid occupations. We find that part-time work is the most important factor for most groups, followed by occupation and education. However, characteristics tend to explain only a limited part of the pay gap; in all of our analyses the data can only explain a maximum of roughly half of the pay gap, and in several groups it accounts for less than that. This means that other factors are at play, potentially including discrimination. 7.3 Implications As above, this report has identified three areas which are associated with pay gaps: part-time work; qualifications; and occupation. This section discusses these issues and suggests areas for further investigation. An important factor associated with disability pay gaps is part-time work. The analysis here is unable to identify the underlying reasons why disabled people work part-time. However, it is the case that part-time work, especially in the private sector, is paid less per hour than full-time work. Further research could look into the extent to which different groups of disabled people are limited to part-time work, and whether this is due to the amount of work they can do, their skill levels or the jobs which they are offered by employers (or a combination of these). Disabled people’s overall level of qualification is another factor. This could be because of barriers and reduced opportunities in education, particularly in the case of a disabled person who has had an impairment from an early age. On the other hand, it could also be linked with the fact that older people are more likely to be disabled and they generally have lower qualifications than younger people.
research-report-107-the-disability-pay-gap.docx