Lifting Barriers to Work for Disabled People

For too long those with disabilities have struggled to obtain secure employment - a struggle intensified by Covid-19. Disabled workers have been disproportionately impacted by furlough, reduced hours and redundancies.

the UK economy can only be truly successful if it supports disabled workers."

Even before the pandemic, those with disabilities had a 52% employment rate, compared to 81% for non-disabled people - a staggering employment gap. Even those who do find work aren't paid fairly: disabled workers earn £2.10 less per hour than their non-disabled colleagues.

That's why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to lift the unjust barriers excluding disabled people from the workplace.

Today we have passed a motion calling for a targeted strategy from the Government to improve the employment of disabled people as we emerge from the pandemic. We are demanding overdue policy changes including:

1. A Jobs Guarantee for unemployed disabled people and specialist disability employment support
2. A £20 a week increase in Employment Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payments, in line with the Universal Credit uplift
3. Disabled people to have a 'day one' right to work from home if they want to, unless there are significant business reasons as to why this could not be accommodated

You can read the full motion here: libdems.org.uk/f6-lifting-barriers-to-work-for-disabled-people

The Liberal Democrats are dedicated to defending disabled peoples' right to work and secure employment. We recognise that the UK economy can only be truly successful if it supports disabled workers.