Disabled women are now losing out on “whopping” £3,640 a year
TUC says Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be a "game changer", introducing mandatory disability pay gap reporting and stronger rights to flexible work
The disability pay gap has increased under the Conservative government, according to new analysis published today (Thursday) by the TUC.
The analysis shows that non-disabled employees earned 12.8% (the equivalent of £1.20 an hour, or £42 a week based on a 35-hour working week) more than disabled employees back in 2013, when the pay data was first recorded.
However, by 2023 that gap had jumped up to 15.1% (£2.10 an hour, or £74 a week).
The TUC says this is more than what the average household spends on their weekly food shop (£62.20).
The average non-disabled employee now earns £15.92 an hour, compared to £13.83 an hour for the average disabled employee.
Disability gender pay gap
The union body flags that the disabled women experience even worse pay discrimination.
In 2023, non-disabled men earned £3.90 an hour (30%) more than disabled women – meaning disabled women miss out on a “whopping” £3,640 over the course of a year.
This is slightly lower than in 2013, when the gap was 33%, but the TUC says far too little has been done to close the pay gap over the decade.
Causes of the disability pay gap
Previous TUC analysis has shown that one of the main drivers of the disability pay gap is that disabled workers are more likely to be employed in low-paid occupations like caring and leisure.
They are also more likely than non-disabled workers to be employed on zero-hours contracts (4.5%, compared to 3.4%).
And disabled workers are underrepresented in the highest paid occupations, especially managers, directors and senior officials and professional occupations.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:
“We should all be paid fairly for the work we do. But disabled people continue to be valued less in our jobs market.
“The disability pay gap has rocketed on this Tory government’s watch – and as a result, disabled women are now missing out on a whopping £3,640 a year.
“It’s shameful ministers have made zero progress on disabled workers’ rights.
“Instead, they’ve made life even harder for disabled people by proposing sweeping reforms to benefits and slashing Personal Independence Payments.
“We need urgent action to ensure disabled people are treated fairly at work.
“Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be a game changer for disabled workers.
“It would introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting to shine a light on inequality at work. Without this, millions of disabled workers will be consigned to many more years of lower pay.
“And we also need ministers to strengthen the benefits system for those who are unable to work or are out of work, so they are not left in poverty.”
Labour’s New Deal for Working People
The TUC is calling for urgent government action to end the discrimination disabled workers’ face in the jobs market.
The union body says it is “shameful” that Conservative ministers have made “zero progress” on making working life fairer for disabled people – and that Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be a “game changer” for workers’ rights.
Labour has pledged to deliver new rights for working people in an employment bill in its first 100 days.
Amongst other measures, Labour’s New Deal would:
introduce disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting
strengthen day one rights to flexible working, and
ban zero-hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work.
- Disabled Workers’ Conference: The TUC Disabled Workers' Conference runs from 11am today (Thursday) until 5.30pm tomorrow (Friday) at the ACC in Liverpool. Speakers include TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak and Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions Vicky Foxcroft MP. Delegates will debate a range of issues, including reasonable adjustments, workplace culture, benefits reform, AI, disabled workers’ rights, discrimination and accessibility. For more information about the conference please visit: https://www.tuc.org.uk/disabled-workers-conference
- Labour’s New Deal for Working People: On pay gap reporting, the New Deal says: “The publication of ethnicity and disability pay gaps will be made mandatory for employers with more than 250 staff, to mirror gender pay gap reporting, following years of inaction from the government.” On flexible work it says: “We will make flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible.”
- Average household weekly food shop: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure#publications
-Disability Pay Gap (all figures are Q4 2013 and Q4 2023 of LFS):
|
2013 gap (£ hour) |
2013 gap (%) |
2023 gap (£ hour) |
2023 gap (%) |
All |
1.15 |
12.2 |
2.09 |
15.1 |
Men |
1.20 |
11.3 |
1.50 |
9.7 |
Women |
0.70 |
7.9 |
2.00 |
15.4 |
BME men |
2.20 |
27.5 |
2.30 |
17.0 |
BME women |
1.60 |
19.5 |
0.70 |
5.3 |
White men |
1.20 |
11.1 |
1.30 |
8.2 |
White women |
0.70 |
7.9 |
2.40 |
18.8 |
White |
1.00 |
10.4 |
2.40 |
17.4 |
BME |
1.80 |
22.0 |
1.30 |
9.0 |
- Pay gap for disabled women and non-disabled men
We look at the pay gap between disabled women and non-disabled men to show how the gender pay gap and disability pay gap intersect.
|
Disabled women |
Non-disabled men |
Cash gap (£ hour) |
% gap |
2013 |
8.9 |
11.8 |
2.9 |
33 |
2023 |
13 |
16.9 |
3.9 |
30 |
- 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.
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