Inequalities and challenges experienced by disabled people in Scotland: evidence review

Method

A search for relevant evidence was carried out in the summer of 2025. Results from the search were recorded and assessed for relevance and robustness against the commitment aims, and findings thematically grouped into key policy areas such as Education, Housing and Health. Limitations of the data and evidence are presented throughout this Review to aid understanding and utility of the findings.

This report provides an overview of qualitative and quantitative evidence concerning inequalities (where comparable data existed) and challenges faced by disabled people in Scotland. Sources of evidence include journal articles, third sector reports, and official statistics such as Scotland’s Census 2022, Scottish Household Survey and School Education Statistics. It is important to note that this review primarily focuses on inequalities (where comparable data exists) and challenges. As such, it is not reflective of any positive experiences or outcomes for disabled people, nor does it seek to illustrate areas where disabled people’s experiences or views are similar to those of non-disabled people.

The Disability Equality Plan 2025 and literature found for this review highlights that the context in which disabled people experience inequalities in Scotland has changed since 2019 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, a date range of 2019 –September 2025 was chosen due to the influence of COVID-19 as well as the cost-of-living crisis, on the lives of disabled people in Scotland. The search stage of the evidence review ceased at the end of September 2025. Therefore, evidence published after this will not appear in the review.

The search largely focused on identifying research that was conducted in Scotland to support Scotland’s Disability Equality Plan. Health and social care and some benefits are devolved to Scotland. Therefore, the inclusion of research that took this specific context into account was necessary. However, some UK-wide research is included to add insights to areas with limited information on Scotland specifically. It was outwith the scope of this report to compare across international contexts.

The research included in the review covers various conditions and health issues which are referred to as disabilities by the research. To ensure this review remained manageable, search terms included “disability” and “disabled people” but did not include a search for specific disabilities or conditions. For this reason, the evidence presented in this review may not reflect all disabled people’s experiences. It is not within the scope of this review to provide a comprehensive overview of all conditions or health issues that could be considered a disability where not referred to as such by the research being referred to.

It must also be noted that not all sources provide a description of how they have understood the term ‘disability’ and, for this reason, cross comparison of evidence presented here is not advised. In addition, this review will reflect the specific terminology used by the reports to describe the disabilities being referred to. There may be cases where the terminology used is no longer the preferred way of referring to that disability. Complexities with defining disability will now be discussed in the following chapter.