New research from Citizens Advice highlights unequal impact of job losses on disabled people
Citizens Advice have seen a huge increase in demand for advice from people facing redundancy from their job, according to their latest report. They report that 1 in 6 working people (17%) face losing their job, but that rises to just over 1 in 4 disabled people (27%), and more than a third of disabled people who report being severely limited in daily activities (37%). Likewise, almost half (48%) of people who are clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 report facing redundancy. The end of support for people shielding means many will be forced to "choose between their life and their livelihood", and risk losing their job if it cannot be done from home and they do not feel safe at work or getting to work.
Many sectors of the economy still have much lower levels of economic activity, including sectors such as retail and hospitality that employ hundreds of thousands of disabled people, and where disabled people make up a greater-than-average share of the workforce. Unless the government steps in to support the rights of workers facing redundancy and maintain support for people who cannot safely return to work, all of the gains that disabled people have made in the labour market over the last decade will be undone.
A summary of the Citizens Advice report, entitled "An unequal crisis", is available on their website, and you can download the complete report here.