A recent report has highlighted the ever-growing urgency behind the need for disabled people to have equal access to opportunities across the UK.

It’s time to ‘level up’ – as the Government say so often.

If the situation was unsatisfactory before the outbreak of Covid-19, the pandemic has exacerbated the difficulties faced by disabled people and their carers.

Data suggested that during the first nine months of the pandemic (March to December 2020), the risk of death from Covid-19 was at least twice as great among disabled people.

While that ultimate threat to health was ongoing, further physical and mental health impacts have made it an incredibly testing time.

Stress and anxiety

 

Many disabled people would have feared they were more susceptible to infection because of a reduced immune system. While there was the obvious threat to the mental health of others with stress and anxiety increasing following repeated lockdowns and ‘stay at home’ orders.

Isolation, loneliness and a prolonged break-up of routine were often felt.

One of the many fascinating statistics to come out of the report, which was conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) was that 43 per cent of disabled people said they felt lonely ‘often and always’, compared to 21 per cent of the rest of the population.

Away from health-related issues, the employment prospects of disabled people have also taken a significant hit.

A survey by Leonard Cheshire across the UK, found that ‘42 per cent of employers were discouraged from hiring disabled job applicants due to concerns around supporting them properly during the pandemic’.

Decade of austerity

 

Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) reported 30 per cent of disabled workers reported being treated unfairly at work during the pandemic.

Add to this the detrimental effects of a decade of austerity on the welfare system and education and it is clear that we have reached the stage where we need to say ‘enough is enough’.

The IPPR report focused mainly on the added disparity of people living in the north of England across all of the above sectors but Mobiquip’s Jamie Lambert says the disparity exists across the whole of the UK.

“Existing inequalities have simply been made worse by the pandemic and left many disabled people feeling more frustrated and isolated than ever,” he said.

“To make any good out of a bad situation, my hope is that the pandemic has bought the issues faced by disabled people more into the spotlight.

Time to level up

 

“The Government constantly talks about its plans to ‘level up’ across the UK. Well, here is a part of society that have been made to feel more unequal than ever.

“We call on the Government to not only review the widening gap for equality faced by disabled people in the UK – but to act upon those findings quickly and be genuinely committed to improve the situation across a range of sectors from employment to health.

“Volunteer groups and charities have been heroic during the pandemic. Now it’s time for the Government and those who make the policies, to build a fairer society for disabled people who just want the opportunity to be treated as an equal and given equal access to opportunities and services that are available.”

Link to report in blog: (read in full: https://bit.ly/2XaExMk)

Read more: ‘WeThe15’ campaign set to be a huge bonus for the disabled community

WATCH: Learn more about the Mobiquip Excel Elise stroller