Disabled women face even bigger pay penalty of 35%, over £7,000 a year
TUC writes to government to call for mandatory disability pay gap reporting
New analysis published by the TUC today (Monday) shows that non-disabled workers now earn a sixth (17.2%) more than disabled workers.
The analysis found that the pay gap for disabled workers currently stands at £2.05 an hour – or £3,731 per year for someone working a 35-hour week.
This pay gap – which has increased from 16.5% last year – means that disabled people effectively work for free for the last 54 days of the year and stop getting paid today, on the day the TUC has branded Disability Pay Gap Day.
Disability pay gap by gender and age
The new TUC analysis reveals that disabled women face the biggest pay gap. Non-disabled men are paid on average 35% (£3.93 an hour, or £7,144 a year) more than disabled women.
The research also shows that the disability pay gap persists for workers throughout their careers. It starts at age 20 at 65p an hour and increases steadily with age to a peak of £3.55 an hour, or £6,461 a year, for disabled workers aged 40 to 44.
Regional and industrial disability pay gaps
The analysis looked at pay data from across the country and found disability pay gaps in every region of England.
The highest pay gaps are in the South East (22% or £2.78 an hour), and the West Midlands and the South West (both 17% or £2.20 an hour).
The research found that disability pay gaps also vary by industry. The biggest pay gap is in financial and industrial services, where the pay gap stands at 39% or £5.90 an hour, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (24%) and mining and quarrying and admin and support services (both 18%).
Unemployment
Not only are disabled workers paid less than non-disabled workers, they are also more likely to be excluded from the job market.
Disabled workers are now twice as likely as non-disabled workers to be unemployed (6.8% compared to 3.4%).
And the analysis shows disabled BME workers face a much tougher labour market – 10.9% of BME disabled workers are unemployment compared to 2.8% of white non-disabled workers.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everybody deserves a fair chance to get a job with decent pay. Being disabled should not mean you’re on a lower wage – or that you’re excluded from the jobs market altogether.
“It’s time to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting to shine a light on inequality at work. Without this, millions of disabled workers will be consigned to years of lower pay and in-work poverty.
“During the pandemic, many disabled people were able to work flexibly or from home for the first time. We must ensure this continues – flexible workplaces are accessible workplaces and give everyone better work life balance.
"Ministers must change the law so that all jobs are advertised with flexible options clearly stated, and all workers have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.”
Disability pay gap reporting
The TUC has today (Monday) written to the government to call for urgent action to address the disability pay gap.
The union body wants the government to bring in mandatory disability pay gap reporting for all employers with more than 50 employees.
The TUC says the legislation should be accompanied by a duty on employers to produce action plans identifying the steps they will take to address any gaps identified.
Government action needed
To address the causes of the pay gap, the TUC is calling for:
The National Minimum Wage to be raised to £15 an hour as soon as possible.
More funding for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to enforce disabled workers’ rights to reasonable adjustments. The EHRC must update their statutory code of practice to include more examples of reasonable adjustments, to help disabled workers get the adjustments they need quickly and effectively.
A stronger legal framework for reasonable adjustments including: ensuring employers respond quickly to requests, substantial penalties for bosses who fail to provide adjustments and for reasonable adjustment passports to be mandatory in all public bodies.
A day one right to flexible working for everyone and a duty on employers to include possible flexible working options in job adverts.
- What is Disability Pay Gap Day? The TUC introduced Disability Pay Gap Day in 2019. It is the day of the year when the average disabled person stops being paid, compared to the average non-disabled person. The overall disability pay gap of £2.05 is calculated by a TUC analysis of Labour Force Survey (LFS) statistics average across the most recent year of data (Q3 2021 to Q2 2022).
- Disability Pay Gap Day 2021: Last year non-disabled employees earned on average £1.90 an hour (16.5%) more than disabled employees – or £3,458 more a year (based on a 35-hour week): https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-poll-two-five-disabled-workers-pushed-hardship-during-pandemic
- Disability Pay Gap Day 2022, gender, region and age (figures from LFS Q3 2021-Q2 2022)
|
Disabled |
Non-disabled |
£ gap per hour |
£ gap per year |
% gap |
Overall |
11.95 |
14.00 |
2.05 |
3731 |
17 |
Male |
13.03 |
15.25 |
2.23 |
4050 |
17 |
Female |
11.33 |
12.75 |
1.43 |
2594 |
13 |
North East |
10.90 |
12.10 |
1.20 |
2184 |
11 |
North West |
11.18 |
12.83 |
1.65 |
3003 |
15 |
Yorks and Humberside |
11.63 |
12.43 |
0.80 |
1456 |
7 |
East Midlands |
11.50 |
12.88 |
1.38 |
2503 |
12 |
West Midlands |
11.30 |
13.28 |
1.98 |
3595 |
17 |
East of England |
12.78 |
14.28 |
1.50 |
2730 |
12 |
London |
15.90 |
18.35 |
2.45 |
4459 |
15 |
South East |
12.58 |
15.35 |
2.78 |
5051 |
22 |
South West |
11.45 |
13.35 |
1.90 |
3458 |
17 |
Wales |
11.60 |
13.25 |
1.65 |
3003 |
14 |
Scotland |
11.85 |
14.10 |
2.25 |
4095 |
19 |
Northern Ireland |
10.40 |
12.30 |
1.90 |
3458 |
18 |
16-19yrs |
7.75 |
7.63 |
-0.13 |
-228 |
-2 |
20-24yrs |
9.65 |
10.30 |
0.65 |
1183 |
7 |
25-29yrs |
11.43 |
13.25 |
1.83 |
3322 |
16 |
30-34yrs |
13.05 |
15.25 |
2.20 |
4004 |
17 |
35-39yrs |
13.78 |
16.90 |
3.13 |
5688 |
23 |
40-44yrs |
13.20 |
16.75 |
3.55 |
6461 |
27 |
45-49yrs |
13.60 |
16.43 |
2.83 |
5142 |
21 |
50-54yrs |
12.50 |
15.38 |
2.88 |
5233 |
23 |
55-59yrs |
12.48 |
14.58 |
2.10 |
3822 |
17 |
60-64yrs |
12.00 |
12.83 |
0.82 |
1502 |
7 |
65-69yrs |
10.70 |
12.78 |
2.08 |
3777 |
19 |
70 and over |
10.68 |
11.18 |
0.50 |
910 |
5 |
- Disability Pay Gap Day 2022, industry (figures from LFS Q3 2021-Q2 2022)
Industry |
Disabled |
Non-disabled |
£ gap |
% gap |
A Agriculture, forestry and fishing |
9.35 |
11.60 |
2.25 |
24 |
B Mining and quarrying |
16.28 |
19.23 |
2.95 |
18 |
C Manufacturing |
13.15 |
14.40 |
1.25 |
10 |
D Electricity, gas, air cond supply |
17.48 |
18.53 |
1.05 |
6 |
E Water supply, sewerage, waste |
12.50 |
14.45 |
1.95 |
16 |
F Construction |
14.53 |
15.60 |
1.08 |
7 |
G Wholesale, retail, repair of vehicles |
9.60 |
10.28 |
0.68 |
7 |
H Transport and storage |
12.53 |
12.98 |
0.45 |
4 |
I Accommodation and food services |
9.18 |
9.13 |
-0.05 |
-1 |
J Information and communication |
20.65 |
22.48 |
1.83 |
9 |
K Financial and insurance activities |
15.13 |
21.03 |
5.90 |
39 |
L Real estate activities |
13.73 |
15.00 |
1.28 |
9 |
M Prof, scientific, technical activ. |
16.43 |
18.78 |
2.35 |
14 |
N Admin and support services |
10.08 |
11.85 |
1.78 |
18 |
O Public admin and defence |
15.13 |
16.40 |
1.28 |
8 |
P Education |
12.93 |
14.93 |
2.00 |
15 |
Q Health and social work |
11.78 |
12.98 |
1.20 |
10 |
R Arts, entertainment and recreation |
10.85 |
11.28 |
0.43 |
4 |
S Other service activities |
11.60 |
13.40 |
1.80 |
16 |
T Households as employers |
x |
x |
|
|
U Extraterritorial organisations |
18.98 |
19.15 |
0.17 |
1 |
V Total |
11.95 |
14.00 |
2.05 |
17 |
- Unemployment rate 2022 (figures from LFS Q3 2021-Q2 2022)
|
Disabled |
Non-disabled |
All |
6.8 |
3.4 |
Men |
8.2 |
3.4 |
Women |
5.8 |
3.3 |
BME |
10.9 |
6.9 |
White |
6.3 |
2.8 |
- What is driving the pay and employment gap? The TUC says that the main factors driving the pay and employment gap for disabled people are:
Part-time working: A higher proportion of disabled people than non-disabled people work part-time. Part-time jobs, especially in the private sector, are paid less per hour than fulltime jobs.
Low-paid work: Disabled people are over-represented in lower paid jobs like caring, leisure and other services and sales and customer services, and under-represented in senior and managerial roles.
Education: Some disabled people leave education earlier than non-disabled people. However, even where disabled and non-disabled people have the same qualifications there is still a big pay gap.
The pay gap is also linked to unlawful discrimination, structural barriers, a lack of access to flexible working, employers failing to provide reasonable adjustment and negative attitudes, says the TUC.
- About the TUC: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.5 million working people who make up our 48 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.
Contacts:
TUC press office
media@tuc.org.uk
020 7467 1248
Want to hear about our latest news and blogs?
Sign up now to get it straight to your inbox
To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).