Reducing Inequalities in Employment of People with Disabilities

Abstract

Across the OECD, the situation for working age people not in employment, or on long-term sick leave, through disability or chronic illness is a serious issue for public health policy. The employment gap between people with disabilities and those without is a common feature of many OECD countries. It is a gap that is widening in many cases and is particularly marked between disabled people in low skilled, manual occupations and their more privileged counterparts in professional occupations. This chapter presents a typology of active labour market policies (ALMPs) that have been introduced in high-income countries to help sick and disabled people into work, thereby reducing their risk of poverty and social exclusion. There are two distinct orientations for these policies: a focus on the employment environment to make it more “disability friendly” and a focus on increasing the employability of the individual. These approaches are illustrated by examples from the UK, Sweden, Denmark, and Canada. The chapter outlines the evidence base for the effectiveness of the different types of ALMPs and what some of the key implications and future challenges are.

We conceptualize ALMPs as one key component of broader “activation strategies.” These strategies also encompass attempts to promote the employment of people with disabilities through changes to the disability-related social protection system and wider labour market policies. We therefore go on to outline evidence on the impact and consequences of another key component of recent activation strategies – changes to disability benefits that aim to reduce potential disincentives to work for disabled or chronically ill people. The chapter ends with an overview of future challenges that are relevant to this issue and aspects which should be considered when designing policy to improve employment opportunities for disabled people.