5 February

Living with a label – British Social Attitudes Survey reveals muddle perceptions of disability

The National Centre for Social Research published its British Social Attitudes Survey at the end of January.

Among the findings, which formed the basis of an article in the Guardian's Society pages on 24 January, were that disability is still perceived in a very narrow sense, focussing on visible disability, despite the broad definition of disability under the DDA.

The Employers' Forum on Disability reaction to this article can be found below. It was sent as a letter to the Guardian.

The original article can be found here: http://society.guardian.co.uk/socialcare/story/0,,1996895,00.html

The muddled perceptions of disability exposed in the latest British Social Attitudes Survey (SocietyGuardian, January 24) are not wholly surprising.

This is partly because the definition of disability contained within the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 is little understood.

The most worrying aspect of this report for business is that in reflecting the attitudes of the 'general public' it must also reflect the attitudes of some UK employers, since the people surveyed must also be our managers, line managers and those responsible for recruitment.

Many of those surveyed may even be covered under the Disability Discrimination Act themselves - they just won't realise it. As around two per cent of the working age population become disabled every year, and 78 per cent of disabled people acquire their impairment aged 16 or older, if they are not disabled already, there is every chance they will be in the future.

At the Employers' Forum on Disability the experience of our members, who make up over 20 per cent of the UK workforce, shows that the reality of disability is quite different from the perception.

The irony is that most of the people surveyed will already be working with disabled people.

Many disabled people choose not to declare their disability at work to avoid the kind of prejudice described in the survey. So it's possible that many of the people surveyed could be working with someone who has schizophrenia, depression or another 'hidden' disability.

Members of the Employers' Forum on Disability are made aware of their responsibility to make their employees aware of what disability is through awareness training and making adjustments for their disabled staff.

However, employers cannot be solely responsible for the re-education of their employees, and so need the support of wider society, including the media and the education system, to educate people about disability from an early age.

It is then that the wider societal benefits will be seen and prejudice against disabled people may become a thing of the past.

Ends

For further information on the Employers' Forum on Disability contact the Forum press office

Issy Rule
Employers' Forum on Disability press office
Telephone: 020 7403 3020
Mobile: 07754 522 521
Email: issy.rule@employers-forum.co.uk
Web: www.employers-forum.co.uk

The Employers' Forum on Disability

The Employers' Forum on Disability is the world's leading employers' organisation focused on disability as it affects business. Funded and managed by 400 members, we make it easier to recruit and retain disabled employees and to serve disabled customers.