Neurodivergent People: Employment Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Afzal Khan
Main Page: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)Department Debates - View all Afzal Khan's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(1 day, 23 hours ago)
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Charlotte Cane
It is great to hear that example. One thing I am calling for is proper structured apprenticeships.
Afzal Khan (Manchester Rusholme) (Lab)
On the statistics, I agree with the hon. Member that having 30% of autistic people in employment compared with 82% is a huge gap. The Buckland review made clear that without a national campaign to raise awareness among employers, those gaps will persist. Does she agree that the stark gap highlights the urgent need for stronger action to ensure that autistic people have fair access to the labour market?
Charlotte Cane
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention and I agree that we must provide these people with much more guidance and support, and also give them fair access to work and a career.
In addition to the problems that autistic people encounter in finding and staying in employment, the raw pay gaps for people with autism and for people with severe or specific learning difficulties are 28% and 20% respectively. We can see that there is a huge problem. Those people have less than a one in three chance of finding employment. Even if they are among the lucky ones who find employment, they might not make it past their first year anniversary in work and they will be paid less than their colleagues.