Stephen spoke on the barriers to finding a job that the elderly, young people, and those with disability face at a panel sponsored by the Shaw Trust on Tuesday 10 October.
Though the UK has relatively high employment, there are particular demographics in UK society who struggle to find employment. Economic inactivity - when someone is neither employed nor looking for work - is high among people aged 16-24 (at 39.7%), people over 50 (at 26.8%), and those with a disability (at 42.3%). People with disabilities especially struggle to find jobs well adapted to them.
Stephen argued for several changes to support more people into work. He urged the Government to reform the Disability Confident Scheme - a scheme that accredits firms for how well they treat disabled employees - to focus on outcomes instead of process. A firm can presently achieve the highest accreditation without employing any disabled people! He also argued for a similar accreditation for elderly employment to lessen ageism.
Stephen also noted that the Government does have some good schemes for supporting people into work. However, these are poorly advertised - for example, few disabled people know about the Access to Work scheme that helps fund workplace adaptations - or closed to anyone not claiming benefits. Stephen suggested advertising these schemes more and opening them to everyone.
