I\u2019m Rachael and I work in Sense\u2019s policy, public affairs and research team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My job is to make sure that we understand how disabilities affect people\u2019s lives through research. And that means that I\u2019m always looking for the latest data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s five things we\u2019ve learnt from research so far this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make sure we\u2019re working for disabled people, it\u2019s important to know just how many people are affected in the UK. The latest figures released last week in the Government Family Resources Survey<\/a> show that there are now 14.1 million disabled people in the UK, which means that 1 in every 5 people are disabled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life has been very different for everyone in the last year or so. But research by the Office for National Statistics<\/a> found that the impacts of the pandemic are especially far reaching for disabled people. About a third (32%) of people say that their health is being affected, a third (34%) say their relationships have been affected and a quarter (27%) having limited access to groceries, medication and essentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sense\u2019s Forgotten Families research last year found that community support reductions were having a big impact on disabled people and their families and these new figures show that not much has changed since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disabled people can face many barriers in getting into and staying in work. Unfortunately, the latest research by the ONS found that only just over half of disabled people<\/a> (52%) aged 16 to 64 years are in employment compared with around 8 in 10 (81%) of non-disabled people. The better news is that this gap is narrower for some groups for example, 72% of people with hearing loss are in employment, as are 57% of people with sight loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pandemic has shown how loneliness can affect everyone. As we exit lockdown, thousands of disabled people still face loneliness and isolation every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A poll of 1,000 disabled people by Sense found that 61% are always or often lonely. Even before the pandemic, 33% would be limited to having under an hour interaction with someone else each day and 70% say that social isolation is now affecting their mental health. Sense\u2019s Left out of life campaign is all about tackling social isolation and loneliness. If you agree that no one should be left out of life, make sure you sign our pledge now.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Many aspects of life have changed due to the pandemic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. There\u2019s still a big gap in the number of employed disabled people compared to non-disabled people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Loneliness is having a big impact on disabled people\u2019s health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Disabled people have lower health and wellbeing levels than non-disabled people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n