Employment related COVID-19 exposure risk among disabled people in the UK

Abstract

We provide new evidence about the work-related exposure of disabled people to COVID-19 using household survey data combined with a novel occupational risk indicator. Despite their higher clinical vulnerability, disabled people in employment in the UK were significantly more likely to be going out to work during the pandemic rather than working from home, and were working in occupations that were more exposed to COVID-19 than the occupations of non-disabled workers. Our results raise questions about whether there are sufficient safeguards for disabled people in the workplace, and have longer-term implications for a labour market where COVID-19 is a persistent health issue.