Labour Market Statistics for Scotland by Disability: January to December 2022

Disabled people by impairments

In this section, we've grouped unemployment and economic inactivity as “out of work”. In these instances, we've labelled employment as “in work”.

Number of impairments

In January to December 2022, only 36.0 per cent of disabled people with three or more impairments were in employment compared to 59.9 per cent of disabled people with less than three impairments. Amongst disabled people in work, those with three or more impairments consists of 27.5 per cent with the remaining 72.5 per cent having less than three impairments. However, when looking at disabled people out of work just over half (50.2 per cent) have three or more impairments and the remaining 49.8 per cent have less than three impairments.

Types of impairments

Over half (52.4 per cent) of disabled people self-report their main long-term impairment as either a mental health or musculoskeletal impairment. Both types of impairment are equally represented with 26.3 per cent of disabled people self-reporting a musculoskeletal impairment as their main impairment and 26.2 per cent of disabled people self-reporting a mental health impairment.

When looking at specific long-term impairment and the proportion of disabled people in and out of work with these impairments as their main impairment. The main self-reported impairments with the highest proportion of disabled people in work are:

• stomach, liver, kidney, or digestive problems (71.6 per cent in work; 28.4 per cent out of work)
• problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with legs or feet (60.0 per cent in work; 40.0 per cent out of work)
• problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with arms or hands (56.7 per cent in work; 43.3 per cent out of work)

The main self-reported impairments with the lowest proportion of disabled people in work are:

• severe or specific learning difficulties (25.0 per cent in work; 75.0 per cent out of work)
• autism (31.6 per cent in work; 68.4 per cent out of work)
• mental illness, or suffering from phobia, panics or other nervous disorders (32.2 per cent in work; 67.8 per cent out of work)

It should be noted that the estimate of disabled people in work with main impairment severe or specific learning difficulties is based on a small sample size which may result in less precise estimates and should be used with caution.

Chart 10: Proportion of disabled people aged 16 to 64 in and out of work by main long-term impairment, Scotland, 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December 2022, ONS
Note:
1. Estimates with a grey background are based on a small sample size. This may result in less precise estimates, which should be used with caution.
2. Disabled people in employment are defined as “in work”; unemployed and economically inactive disabled people are defined as “out of work”