The following is according to the UK's Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey, Sept - Dec 2006, for people of working age only.

• There are currently 1.3 million disabled people in the UK who are available for and want to work
• Only half of disabled people of working age are in work (50%), compared with 80% of non disabled people
• Employment rates vary greatly according to the type of impairment a person has; only 20% of people with mental health problems are in employment
• 23% of disabled people have no qualifications compared to 9% of non disabled people
• Nearly one in five people of working age (7 million, or 18.6%) in Great Britain have a disability
• The average gross hourly pay for disabled employees is £11.08 compared to £12.30 for non disabled employees.
• Only 17% of disabled people were born with their disabilities (Source: Institute for Public Policy Research article Work for disabled people)
• One in four people will be affected by mental ill health in the course of their life (Source: Mind)
• Mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, now account for more Incapacity Benefit claims than back pain (Source: Mind, Stress and mental health in the workplace, 2005)
• One inthree men and one infour women between the ages of 40 and 70 willdevelop a critical illness (Source: Health insurance: the online guide to critical illness insurance)
  
  (Source: Shaw Trust )

Information Sources

• Shaw Trust
  
• Office for National Statistics
  
• Royal National Institute for the Blind
  
• Leeds University
  
• Civil Service
  
• Newman University College Birmingham
• Use of VOIP - Ofcom's research into who uses Voice Over Internet Protocol