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

Highest Qualification

In January to December 2022, people with a degree had a higher employment rate than people without. This was the same for non-disabled people (88.8 and 77.6 per cent respectively) and disabled people (75.6 and 43.0 per cent respectively).

However, the difference between disabled people with a degree and disabled people without a degree was nearly three times the size of the difference amongst non-disabled people. The employment rate for non-disabled people without a degree was also higher than the employment rate for disabled people with a degree (77.6 per cent and 75.6 per cent respectively).

For disabled people, the unemployment rate for people without a degree was more than twice the unemployment rate for disabled people with a degree (7.9 and 3.8 per cent respectively). The unemployment rate for non-disabled people without a degree was also more than twice the unemployment rate for non-disabled people with a degree (3.8 and 1.6 per cent respectively) but the difference wasn’t as large.

Similarly, the inactivity rate of disabled people without a degree was more than twice the inactivity rate of disabled people with a degree (53.3 and 21.4 per cent respectively). Amongst non-disabled people, there was less than 10.0 percentage points between people without a degree and people with a degree (19.4 and 9.8 per cent respectively).

Chart 9: Economic status for 16 to 64 year olds by disability and highest qualification attained, Scotland, 2022

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December 2022, ONS
Note: 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.