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People with disabilities are less likely to be part of the labour market and they tend to earn less when they are, according to a new working paper from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Individuals with disabilities also face higher unemployment rates and are more likely to be self- employed, the study on the employment and wage outcomes of people with disabilities finds.

The paper, which includes new data, finds that those with disabilities and are working are paid 12 percent less per hour than other employees, on average, and that three-quarters of this gap – 9 percent – cannot be explained by differences in education, age, and type of work. In low and lower middle-income countries, this disability wage gap is much larger, at 26 percent, and almost half cannot be explained by socio-demographic differences.

The situation is worse for women with disabilities, who also face a substantial gender pay gap compared to their male counterparts. On average, in 14 countries where gender disaggregated data were available, there was a 6 percent gender pay gap between women and men with disabilities in developed countries and a 5 percent gap in developing countries.

It’s estimated that 1.3 billion people, or nearly one-in-six of the global population, experience significant disability (2021 figure). With only 3 in 10 disabled people active in the labour market, their overall labour market participation rate is very low and progress towards greater inclusion has been relatively slow.

The findings further suggest that people with disabilities may tend towards self-employment because of the potentially greater flexibility it offers in terms of working hours, access to work facilities and avoidance of discrimination.

Moreover, the ILO paper puts forward a number of measures to improve the labour market participation of individuals with disabilities, including making online recruitment and related processes more accessible, greater support for employers to encourage the hiring of persons with disabilities and supporting disabled employees with appropriate adaptation measures to facilitate their work.

The working paper is part of a research project on inequalities that examines the employment and wage outcomes of vulnerable groups. A previous study on the employment and wage disparities between rural and urban areas was published in February 2024.