Disability facts and figures
An overview of official UK disability statistics from the Office for Disability Issues
General disability statistics by topic
- General demographics
- Living standards
- Employment
- Education
- Post-19 education
- Independent living
- Discrimination
- Leisure, social and cultural activities
- Civic involvement and volunteering
- Transport
- Communications
- Justice system
- Housing
- Footnotes
About these statistics
These statistics are reviewed and updated throughout the year as new data is published. Sources are cited in the footnotes.
The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) publishes annual Disability Equality Indicators which provide more detail on the subject areas presented here.
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General Demographics
- There are over eleven million people with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability in Great Britain [1]
- In Great Britain, the most commonly-reported impairments are those that affect mobility, lifting or carrying [2]
- The prevalence of disability rises with age. Around 6 per cent of children are disabled, compared to 15 per cent of working age adults* and 45 per cent of adults over State Pension* age in Great Britain. [3]
Living standards
- A substantially higher proportion of individuals who live in families with disabled members live in poverty, compared to individuals who live in families where no one is disabled
- 20 per cent of individuals in families with at least one disabled member live in relative income poverty, on a Before Housing Costs basis, compared to 15 per cent of individuals in families with no disabled member [4]
- 22 per cent of children in families with at least one disabled member are in poverty, a significantly higher proportion than the 16 per cent of children in families with no disabled member
Employment
-
According to the Labour Force Survey, disabled people are now more likely to be employed than they were in 2002, but disabled people remain significantly less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people. In 2012, 46.3 per cent of working-age disabled people are in employment compared to 76.4 per cent of working-age non-disabled people. There is therefore a 30.1 percentage point gap between disabled and non-disabled people, representing over 2 million people. The gap has reduced by 10 percentage points over the last 14 years and has remained stable over the last two years despite the economic climate.
Education
- Between 2005/06 and 2010/11, the percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C has
- increased from 66.3 per cent to 88.9 per cent for students without Special Educational Needs (SEN)
- increased from 19.8 per cent to 59.2 per cent for students with SEN without a statement
- increased from 8.7 per cent to 24.9 per cent for students with SEN with a statement [6]*
Post-19 Education
- Disabled people are around three times as likely not to hold any qualifications compared to non-disabled people, and around half as likely to hold a degree-level qualification [7]
- 19.2 per cent of working age disabled people do not hold any formal qualification, compared to 6.5 per cent of working age non-disabled people [8]
- 14.9 per cent of working age disabled people hold degree-level qualifications compared to 28.1 per cent of working age non-disabled people [9]
Independent living
- Over a quarter of disabled people say that they do not frequently have choice and control over their daily lives [10]
Discrimination
- Disabled people are significantly more likely to experience unfair treatment at work than non-disabled people. In 2008, 19 per cent of disabled people experienced unfair treatment at work compared to 13 per cent of non-disabled people [11]
- Around a third of disabled people experience difficulties related to their impairment in accessing public, commercial and leisure goods and services [12]
Leisure, social and cultural activities
- Disabled people remain significantly less likely to participate in cultural, leisure and sporting activities than non-disabled people. Latest data shows disabled people are more likely to have attended a historic environment site, museum or gallery than in 2005/06. However disabled people are less likely to have attended a library over the same period [13]
Civic involvement and volunteering
- Disabled people remain significantly less likely to participate in cultural, leisure and sporting activities than non-disabled people. Latest data shows disabled people are more likely to have attended a historic environment site, museum or gallery than in 2005/06. However disabled people are less likely to have attended a library over the same period [14]
- Disabled people are significantly less likely to engage in formal volunteering. In 2010/11, 23 per cent of disabled people engaged in formal volunteering at least once a month, compared with 25 per cent of non-disabled people [15]
Transport
- Around a fifth of disabled people report having difficulties related to their impairment or disability in accessing transport [16]
- Between 2004/05 and 2011/12, the percentage of buses with low-floor wheelchair access increased from 52 per cent to 88 per cent [17]
Communications
- Disabled people are significantly less likely to live in households with access to the internet than non-disabled people. In 2011 61 per cent of disabled people lived in households with internet access, compared to 86 per cent of non-disabled people [18]
Justice System
- Disabled people are significantly more likely to be victims of crime than non-disabled people. This gap is largest amongst 16-34 year-olds where 39 per cent of disabled people reported having been a victim of crime compared to 28 per cent of non-disabled people [19]
- Disabled people are less likely than their non-disabled peers to think the Criminal Justice System (CJS) is fair. This gap is largest amongst 16-34 year-olds, where 54 per cent of disabled people think that the CJS is fair compared to 66 per cent of non-disabled people [20]
Housing
- Although the gap in non-decent accommodation has closed over recent years, one in three households with a disabled person still live in non-decent accommodation [21]
- One in five disabled people requiring adaptations to their home believe that their accommodation is not suitable [22]
Footnotes
- Source: Family Resources Survey 2010/11
- Source: Family Resources Survey 2010/11
- Source: Source: Family Resources Survey 2010/11; *State Pension age changed from 2010/11 and so the definition of State Pension age and Working age is not consistent over time. The State Pension age for men is 65 for men born before 6 April 1959. For women born on or before 6 April 1950, the State Pension age is 60. From 6 April 2010, State Pension age for women born on or before 6 April 1950 started to increase gradually between April 2010 and November 2018. For the purpose of this data, women are defined to be of State Pension age based on their date of birth and the date of the interview
- Source: Family Resources Survey 2010/11
- Source: Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2, 2012
- Source: National Pupil Database 2005/06-2010/11 *These figures are final with the exception of 2010/11 data which are revised figures
- Source: Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2, 2012
- Source: Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2, 2012
- Source: Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2, 2012
- Source: ONS Opinions Survey 2011
- Source: Fair Treatment at Work Survey 2008
- Source: ONS Opinions Survey 2010
- Source: Taking Part Survey 2011/12
- Source: Citizenship Survey 2010/11
- Source: Citizenship Survey 2010/11
- Source: ONS Opinions Survey 2011
- Source: Department for Transport’s Annual Sample Survey of Bus Operators
- Source: British Social Attitudes Survey 2011
- Source: British Crime Survey 2010/11
- Source: British Crime Survey 2010/11
- Source: English House Condition Survey 2008
- Source: Survey of English Housing 2007/08
Page last reviewed: 13 February 2013
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