People with disabilities are, on average, less likely to participate in the labour market and, when they do, are paid 12% less, according to a new working paper from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

A study on the employment and wage outcomes of people with disabilities, which includes new data, concludes that employees with disabilities earn 12% less per hour on average than other employees. Notably, three-quarters of this wage gap—9%—cannot be explained by differences in education, age, or type of work.

In low and lower-middle-income countries, the disability wage gap is even more pronounced, at 26%, with nearly half of this disparity remaining unexplained by socio-demographic factors.

For women with disabilities, the situation is worse, as they also face a significant 6% gender pay gap compared to their male counterparts.

The findings further suggest that people with disabilities may be more inclined towards self-employment due to the potentially greater flexibility it offers in terms of working hours, access to work facilities, and the ability to avoid discrimination.

An estimated 1.3 billion people, or nearly one in six of the global population, live with significant disabilities as of 2021. Despite this, only 3 out of 10 disabled individuals are active in the labour market, reflecting a low overall participation rate and slow progress towards greater inclusion.

The ILO recommends several measures to improve the labour market participation of individuals with disabilities. These include making online recruitment and related processes more accessible, providing greater support for employers to encourage the hiring of persons with disabilities, and supporting disabled employees with appropriate adaptation measures to facilitate their work.