Well-being and disability – new evidence of inequality

Evidence on disability-related inequality has largely focused on employment and earnings and concludes that disabled people in the UK face some of the greatest employment disadvantages of any group (NEP 2010:117). From April 2012 a new subjective well-being (SWB) measure takes its place alongside the more traditional income-based ones as a measure of the nation’s progress. Two things are noteworthy about the first publication of some broad SWB statistics: most people report high levels of SWB most of the time and there are typically minimal inter-group differences. This study is the first to consider inter-group differences in the new SWB indicators by disability We argue that, for this group, SWB is an important additional indicator of inequality and as a prompt to ask what is it about disability that generates a large SWB gap? Is it disability or the social gradient associated with disability (see Marmot 2010)? How much of the SWB deficit is explained by above average non-employment? For those in work, how much is explained by low pay, poor quality jobs and over-education