Facts and statistics
Below are some statistics on the general population of disabled people. They are useful to understand market needs, behaviour and trends.
General population figures
There are almost 11 million disabled people in the UK of whom:
- 5.1 million are adults of working age
- 5.0 million are over state pension age
- 5.1 million males and 5.8 million females
(Office for Disability Issues updated Department for Work and Pensions estimates based on Family Resources survey 2009/10)
- There are around 9 million disabled adults in England, with the greatest concentration (1.5 million) in the North West
(Office for Disability Issues updated Department for Work and Pensions estimates based on Family Resources survey 2009/10)
- Only 17% of disabled people were born with impairments. The majority of disabled people acquire their impairment during their working lives
- People are more likely to become disabled if they have a low income, are out of work or have low educational qualification
- The majority of impairments are not visible – less than 8% of disabled people use wheelchairs Papworth Trust disability facts and figures 2010
- About 1 million people in England have a learning disability (2% of the population). 796,000 of them are aged 20 or over- Estimating future need/demand for supports for adults with Learning Disabilities in England - Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University 2004.
- 1 in 7 people in the UK (about 9 million) are Deaf or hard of hearing Action on Hearing Loss
- 577,000 people in the UK receive benefits as a result of having problems with mobility.:
BICPA (Being Inclusive in the Creative and Performing Arts)
- There are two million people with sight problems in the UK. One person in 30. There are an estimated 25,000 children with sight problems. RNIB
Children
- 7.3% (952,741)of the children in the UK are disabled
- Prevalence is higher among boys (8.8%) than girls (5.8%)
- Boys have a higher rate overall and are more likely than girls to experience difficulties with physical coordination; memory, concentration and learning; communication
(Prevalence of childhood disability and the characteristics and circumstances of disabled children in the UK: secondary analysis of the Family Resources Survey Blackburn, Spencer and Read)
- Disabled children are more likely to live with low-income, deprivation, debt and poor housing.
- 66% of disabled children live in a 2 parent family. The proportion of children living in lone parent families (34%) is greater than that for non-disabled children
Prevalence of childhood disability and the characteristics and circumstances of disabled children in the UK: secondary analysis of the Family Resources Survey Blackburn, Spencer and Read
Work
- There are currently 1.3 million disabled people in the UK who are available for and want to work
( Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey, Jan - March 2009)
- Only half of disabled people of working age are in work (50%), compared with 80% of non disabled people
( Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey, Jan - March 2009)
- Employment rates vary greatly according to the type of impairment a person has; only 20% of people with mental health problems are in employment
( Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey, Jan - March 2009)
- The average gross hourly pay for disabled employees is £11.08 compared to £12.30 for non disabled employees.
(Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey, Jan - March 2009)
Education
- 15% of young disabled people are not in any form of education, employment or training as opposed to 7% of their non-disabled peers. The gap increases between the ages of 16 – 19 to two thirds as likely (27% compared to 9%) (Papworth Trust)
- 23% of disabled people have no qualifications compared to 9% of non disabled people
(Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey, Jan - March 2009)
- 16 per cent of adults with impairment experienced barriers to education and training opportunities (that is, the learning opportunities they had) compared with nine per cent of adults without impairment.
(LOS 2009-11)
- 2.7% (220,890) of pupils across all schools in England had statements of SEN
DfE 2010
- 54.9% of pupils with statements of SEN are placed in mainstream schools
- 38.1% are in maintained special schools
- 4.3 % in independent special schools,
- 2.0 per cent in non-maintained special schools
- 0.8 per cent in pupil referral units.
DfE 2010
- In 2010 there were some 1,470,900 pupils with SEN without statements representing 18.2 per cent of pupils across all schools. This is an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 2009.
DfE 2010
Finance
- At 30%, the poverty rate for disabled adults in the UK is twice that for non-disabled adults.
Employers’ Forum on Disability
- The annual spending power of disabled adults in Britain covered by the DDA is estimated at £80 billion per year (Papworth Trust)