Has the Disability Discrimination Act closed the employment gap?
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the disparity in employment rates between people with a limiting long-term illness or disability and those without has decreased since the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act in the UK. DESIGN: National cross-sectional data on employment rates for people with and without a limiting long-term illness or disability were obtained from the General Household Survey for a twelve-year period (1990-2002; 10 surveys). Representative population samples were analysed. The sample size for the GHS over the study period ranged from 19,193 to 24,657 and the average response rate ranged from 72% to 82%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The relative employment rates of men and women of working age (18-60/65 years). Compares people with a limiting long-term illness or disability (‘disabled’) with people with no limiting long-term illness or disability (‘not disabled’). RESULTS: Age standardised employment rates remained relatively stable from 1990 to 2001 for
