A WIDENING disability pay gap lays bare how the economy traps workers in poverty, the TUC argued yesterday, with its analysis of official statistics revealing that the disparity has reached a staggering 17.2 per cent.

In the year to spring 2024, the earnings gulf between disabled and non-disabled workers grew to £2.35 an hour.

For an employee working a 35-hour week, this would be equivalent to £82.25 per week or £4,300 a year.  

The average disabled worker effectively toils for free for nearly two months, from today until the end of the year, said the TUC.

The analysis also shows that the pay gap is even starker for disabled women.

Median pay for non-disabled men is 31 per cent higher than for disabled women.  

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:  “Urgent action is now needed to improve opportunities for disabled workers.  

“After 14 years of Tory failures and inaction, Labour’s commitment to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting is a welcome first step. 

“And this government’s flagship Employment Rights Bill will also help tackle insecure employment, something disabled workers are disproportionally affected by. 

“We need an economy that allows disabled people to thrive, not one that traps them in poverty.” 

The £82.25 weekly pay gap hits disabled workers even harder as they also face higher living costs and are typically more likely to be in low-paid, insecure work.

New TUC analysis shows that disabled workers are a third more likely than non-disabled workers to be on a zero-hours contract — 4 per cent compared with 2.9 per cent.

Disabled black and ethnic minority women are three times more likely than non-disabled white men to be employed on such contracts. 

Disabled People Against Cuts co-founder Linda Burnip said the TUC report “sadly reflects the capitalist values that pervade society generally.”

She added: “Disabled people are either scapegoated as economically inactive scroungers or employed at far lower rates of pay than non-disabled people as their lives are held to be of less worth.

“The government must sort out this appalling pay gap, make Access to Work funding work properly and force employers to put in place reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.

“To have the disability pay gap widen year on year is just totally unacceptable.”