A new survey of 16-to-24-year-olds across the UK, commissioned by Business Disability Forum (BDF) and conducted by Opinium has found the vast majority of disabled young people (84 per cent) believe barriers associated with their disability will negatively affect their chances of finding paid work.
The findings raise serious concerns that a generation is being locked out of employment before they even enter the workforce. They also reveal a deepening crisis of confidence among disabled young people, with many struggling to navigate recruitment processes and lacking confidence to ask employers for the support they need. These findings eveal a worrying lack of optimism among disabled young people, with only a third (35 per cent) feeling positive about their current or future employment prospects.
The survey from the leading business membership organisation in disability inclusion found that most disabled young people (84 per cent) believe barriers associated with having a disability will affect their future experiences of looking for paid work, with three in five (59 per cent) saying those barriers will have a “fair amount” or a “great deal” of impact.
The data also highlights the confidence gap between disabled young people and young people generally, underlining a significant barrier around workplace adjustments. Across eight recruitment-related measures surveyed, fewer than half of disabled people say they feel confident contacting a company to ask about work opportunities (43 per cent) and knowing where to look for work (49 per cent). Concerningly, only a third (37 per cent) of disabled young people and half (52 per cent) of all young people generally feel confident asking a company for support to take part in an interview.
“With nearly half of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) identifying as disabled, understanding disabled young people’s specific experiences of looking for work is crucial,” said Diane Lightfoot, Chief Executive of Business Disability Forum. “Many disabled people need support, such as workplace adjustments, to take part in an interview but our data suggests that disabled young people and, to a lesser extent, young people more widely don’t feel confident asking for that support. At the same time, sadly only a third of young disabled people feel positively about their current or future work prospects.
“The upcoming second report of the Milburn Review into youth opportunity and employment is an opportunity to fix these issues, to restore hope and to give disabled young people back their futures.”
The findings show that disabled young people see the creation of more entry-level jobs, more inclusive workplaces and better support for health conditions and disabilities as the key solutions for improving employment prospects for young people.
Two fifths of all young people (39 per cent) would like to see employers create more entry-level jobs. This is a sentiment that was shared by disabled young people (37 per cent). One in four of all young people (26 per cent) and three in 10 disabled young people (29 per cent) would like to feel more welcome in the workplace, while more flexibility and work/life balance was recognised as important by a quarter of all young people (24 per cent) and disabled young people (25 per cent) alike.
There is also growing anxiety around the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs. More than a third (34 per cent) of all young people said AI’s impact on the number of jobs available was their biggest concern when thinking about the future. This was echoed by a third of disabled young people (35 per cent), highlighting that employers need to carefully consider how technological advances affect routes into employment for all young people.
In response to the findings, BDF is urging employers to take a more proactive approach to reaching young disabled people through targeted outreach, accessible communications, clearer information and providing multiple ways for young people to contact them about opportunities.
Employers are also being urged to make workplace support a priority.
