Disability, Gender and the Labour Market

Using data from the 2002 LFS, we examine the impact of disability on labour market outcomes by gender. Our results indicate that substantial differences in both the likelihood of employment and levels of earnings exist, despite several years of operation of the Disability Discrimination Act. Significant heterogeneity within the disabled group is identified: those suffering from mental health forms of disability fare particularly badly. Wage decompositions suggest the ?penalty? for disability is greater for women than for men. Using the Baldwin and Johnson (1992) methodology, we find the employment effects associated with wage discrimination against the disabled are very small.