The gap between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people in the UK remains close to 30 percentage points, according to new official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The disability employment gap stood at 29.4 percentage points in April to June 2026.

The figures, published by the DWP on 4 November, show that 5.6 million disabled people aged 16 to 64 were in employment. The employment rate among disabled people was 53%, compared with 82.4% among non-disabled people.

No meaningful improvement since 2019

The gap narrowed by 0.3 percentage points compared with April to June 2025, and the disability employment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points over the same period, but neither change was statistically significant. The Work Foundation at Lancaster University said the gap has made no statistically significant improvement since 2019, with a weakening labour market and declining vacancies hindering progress.

Disabled people are also bearing the brunt of the wider labour market slowdown. The disability unemployment rate is 8.7%, more than double the non-disabled rate of 4.1%, and it has risen by 1.8 percentage points in the last two years alone.

Young disabled people hit hardest

Disabled young people are more than three times as likely to be not in education, employment or training (NEET) than their non-disabled peers, and nearly half of all NEET young people are disabled. Analysis of online jobs boards suggests starter jobs have fallen by 49% over the past decade, hitting disabled young people disproportionately.

Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation, said: "New DWP data shows an increasing number of disabled people want to work, but time is running out for the Government to avoid a lost decade on closing the disability employment gap." He added that ministers must resist pressure to make crude cuts to welfare support, and that the upcoming Timms Review is expected to recommend reforms to disability-related welfare. Read the DWP statistics on the employment of disabled people 2026 and the Work Foundation response.