Disabled workers could face a “jobs crisis” amid the coronavirus pandemic, a leading charity has warned.
About 7 in 10 disabled people surveyed by Leonard Cheshire had seen a hit to their income, been furloughed or feared redundancy due to Covid-19.
A spokeswoman for the charity urged the government to “make our recovery from downturn an inclusive one”.
A government spokesperson said it was “committed” to supporting a safe return to work for disabled people.
The Leonard Cheshire charity also suggests that employers seem to be discouraged from hiring disabled people due to the coronavirus crisis.
In a survey of 1,171 working age disabled people and 502 employers, two in five hiring managers said that a barrier from hiring disabled staff was “being able to support them properly” during the coronavirus pandemic.
One-fifth of employers admitted they were less likely to hire a disabled candidate overall.
Of the 7.7 million disabled people of working age in the UK, 53.6% are currently in work, in comparison with 81.7% of those who are not disabled, according to the Office for National Statistics.
More than half (57%) of disabled 18-24 year olds surveyed by the charity said they felt that the pandemic had affected their ability to work. The majority also felt that it had hit their future earnings potential.
‘Bosses need to be more open-minded’
Emma Dobson, 23, who has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair, has been job-hunting since completing her Masters degree at Birmingham University this summer.
She has been applying for a range of roles – from research assistant roles related to her academic studies, to support worker jobs or those in retail. Despite submitting an estimated 40 applications since July, she has had little success.
“I’m at the point now where I have to draw a line between the jobs I want to do, or the ones where I need to just apply for the money,” Emma says.
“Also, because I live by myself and like lots of people, I haven’t done much socialising recently… I’m desperate to find something.”
Although she has relevant work experience in support work and office-based roles following work placements during her undergraduate degree, she says she hasn’t got beyond a first interview, which she describes as “soul-destroying”.
She urges employers to do whatever they can to support disabled candidates in the application process, and at work.
“Covid has shown us that a lot of the things that disabled employees have been asking for, such as flexible hours, remote working, hosting meetings online – are all very doable.
“Lots of bosses managed to bring in these new measures at the drop of a hat – so there’s no excuse for not fixing any roadblocks to hiring a disabled person, or maintaining those new ways of working, as we’ve been asking for them for years.”
Leonard Cheshire described the findings of its survey as “stark”.
“But we should see them not as gloomy forecasts for policymakers but as motivators for immediate, wide-ranging action,” its head of policy, Gemma Hope said.
The charity is calling on the government to take a number of actions, such as extending the furlough scheme for working people who are shielding and making all staff entitled to statutory sick pay on day one of employment.
In September, charity Scope also said that disabled people had been “hardest-hit” by the pandemic.
In an open letter, addressed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, it pointed to “a looming recession and disabled people at the sharp end of poverty”.
It called for the government to prioritise the publication of the National Disability Strategy, ensuring “it provides a clear plan to mitigate existing inequalities the pandemic has further magnified”.
The government committed to publishing the strategy – which aims to improve disabled people’s access to opportunities – in the last Queen’s Speech.
A government spokesperson said: “We understand this has been a very challenging time for many disabled people and we remain committed to supporting their safe return to work.
“We are working to support and protect disabled people with one of the most comprehensive economic responses in the world,” they said, citing the creation of the Kickstart jobs scheme offering six-month paid placements for young people and tailored support for unemployed people as the number of work coaches in job centres are doubled.
“In addition, we have boosted welfare support by £9.3 billion to help those who need it most,” they added.