What support helps disabled people and people with health conditions move into sustainable work?

Download

There are currently 2.8 million working-age people who are long-term sick, many of whom want to work. As Learning and Work Institute (L&W) has argued since 2022, the ambition of an 80% employment rate promises benefits to people, employers, the economy and taxpayers. However, achieving this ambition will require a decade-long effort to widen employment support, join up work, health and skills, and work with employers on how they recruit and retain people.

This research, commissioned by Health Equals, finds that ableism is prevalent within the employment support system and the wider labour market, which fundamentally hampers the effectiveness of programmes and services. Employers do not typically have high levels of awareness and understanding about how to support disabled people and/or those with LTHCs to enter and remain in work, yet ought to be playing a critical role in creating accessible job opportunities.

There is a social and economic imperative to better support disabled people and people with LTHCs into sustainable work. Our report showcases effective practice and sets out recommendations for UK government, devolved national and regional administrations to:

  • Fund longer-term initiatives to provide certainty and continuity of sustained support
  • Widen eligibility criteria of current mainstream support provision to all individuals who are interested in moving into work
  • Take action to ensure Jobcentre Plus staff can take a flexible and supportive approach with disabled people and/or people with LTHCs
  • Design services in collaboration with disabled people and deliver them via trusted local providers

This report is the first of three papers commissioned by Health Equals to explore the relationship between health and work. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive information about future publications.