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

Equality characteristics

The difference between the employment rates for non-disabled and disabled is the disability employment rate gap. It is defined as the employment rate for non-disabled people minus the employment rate for disabled people. When looking at equality characteristics it can give an insight into the ways that sex, age, and ethnicity can affect the employment rate for disabled people compared to non-disabled people.

Sex

The disability employment rate gap for men has been consistently larger than women.

In January to December 2022, the gap between the employment rate for non-disabled and disabled men was 35.9 percentage points (pp). This was the narrowest gap since 2014.

The disability employment rate gap for women in 2021 (26.2 pp) was the narrowest gap since 2014 but has since increased to 28.2 pp in 2022. The increase in 2022 is explained by the employment rate for both non-disabled and disabled women increasing but the employment rate for non-disabled women increased by more than the employment rate for disabled women.

Chart 2: Disability employment rate gap for people aged 16 to 64 by sex, Scotland, 2014 to 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December data, ONS

Age

In January to December 2022, the employment rate of non-disabled people was higher than the employment rate of disabled people for all ages. Since 2014, the disability employment rate gap has been narrowing for all ages except 16 to 24 year olds where it has been widening.

The 25 to 34 year old age group has the narrowest gap at 23.5 percentage points (pp) while the 35 to 49 year old age group has the widest gap at 35.8 pp. For the first time since the series began in 2014, the disability employment rate gap for 16 to 24 year olds is not the narrowest gap by age group.

Over the year, the gap narrowed for 25 to 34 year olds but widened for 16 to 24 year olds. There was little change for 35 to 49 year olds and 50 to 64 year olds.

The largest widening of the gap was for 16 to 24 year olds (7.9 pp) and was caused by a significant increase in the employment rate of non-disabled people (5.6 pp) and a decrease in the employment rate of disabled people (-2.2 pp).  The only other decrease in employment rate was for disabled 50 to 64 year olds, which contributed to the slight widening of the gap for this age group.

Chart 3: Disability employment rate gap by broad age group, Scotland, 2014 to 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December data, ONS

Ethnicity

In January to December 2022, the disabled employment rate gap for white groups was 32.8 pp. This was wider than the gap for minority ethnic groups (22.9 pp). Since 2014, the gap for the white groups has been consistently wider than the gap for the minority ethnic groups.

The gap is narrower for both the white and minority ethnic groups than it was in 2014. However, the gap has widened over the year to 2022 for both groups. In both groups, the gap has widened because the employment rate for non-disabled people has increased by a larger amount than the employment rate for disabled people.

Chart 4: Disability employment rate gap for people aged 16 to 64 by ethnicity, Scotland, 2014 to 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December, ONS