Disabled people are facing a 44 per cent wage gap compared to the non-disabled population, think tank data has found.

The report by the Resolution Foundation revealed that in 2020-21 the gap between disabled (19,397) and non-disabled (27,792) had actually decreased 10 percentage points from 54 per cent in 2013, but warned that the 23 per cent of the population with a disability were facing the cost of living crisis with “lower than average incomes”.

The Costly differences report, which used statistical analysis and a new YouGov survey of just under 8,000 working-age adults, more than 2,000 of whom reported a long-term illness or disability, claimed the gap could be explained by low employment rates for disabled workers.

Half (54 per cent) of the working-age disabled population is in work, compared to fourth fifths (82 per cent) of the non-disabled population.

Rosie Clarke, head of inclusion and diversity services at Inclusive Employers, pointed out that disabled people were “a vastly diverse group offering a wealth of skills, talents, ideas and perspectives that businesses or service providers would benefit from”.

However, they were often misunderstood or “perceived negatively by employers that have the incorrect perception that hiring and retaining a disabled person will be onerous, and therefore take the ‘easier’ route of hiring non-disabled people”, she said.

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