POLICY RESEARCHER / STRATEGIST
Specialising in Culture Sport & The Creative Economy
/ 1982 — 2024

AVAILABLE FOR FREELANCE
PROJECTS IN SEPT 2024

info@charlesfreemanprojects.com

The Economic of Neurodiversity 2 – Employment and Unemployment 

Job Market

“If I was stuck at a different job, I’d be horrible. I wouldn’t survive,”   Will.i.am[1]

William James Adams Jr. (known as Will.i.am ) is a performer, producer and award-winning founder of the Black-Eyed Peas. He also has attention deficit hyper disorder ADHD. He believes being Neurodivergent ND helps in the studio and in creative meetings, but in a different job it would be a nightmare.

The Social Model of Disability

The Social Model of Disability argues that it is society rather than any impairment which is disabling.[i]  What is it that transforms neurodivergence, from being a normal human difference, into a disability? For many Neurodivergent (ND) people, the thing they find most disabling is the challenge of getting and retaining work.

This blog seeks to define, terms relating to employment and unemployment. Explore differences between the way Neurodivergent People and other members of the workforce are employed. It will also explore some of the factors which reduce or increase the likelihood a Neurodivergent Person might experience Unemployment.

Employment and Unemployment definitions

UK Population [ii] – Everyone living in the UK- (Estimated to be 67m People in 2023) 

Population of Working Age[iii] – Population 16 – 64 inclusive. (37.5m People)

Employment[iv]– People of working age who are doing at least 1 hour paid work per week, (33m People [v]

The Employment figure is made up of people who are employees and paid a wage.  21.6m of whom are employed full-time and 6.8m Part Time. The remaining 4.5m people are Self-Employed.  

Unemployment [vi]–   Unemployment is defined as people who are without a job and have been actively seeking work in the past four weeks. Currently 1.3m people are Unemployed. 3.3% of the working age population.

Economically in Active – People of working age who are not employed and have not been actively seeking work in the past weeks. This figure includes students, people who retire early, people on maternity or paternity leave and people with long term health conditions.  7.7 million people are economically inactive.  A total of 9m people 24% of working age people are either unemployed or economically inactive.

What do We Know about Neurodivergence and Employment.

Little definitive data on neurodivergence and employment is available. [vii] One reason for this is that the majority of ND people have not been diagnosed[viii],  Furthermore, many neurodivergent choose not to disclose due to fear of discrimination.[ix]

According to the Office of National Statistics, only 22% of Autistic People are in Paid Employment[x]. Achievability report 40% of Job Centre Plus users (mostly people on out of work benefits , who may be either unemployed or not economically active) are thought to be dyslexic. If this is true it can be calculated[xi] that 13.8% of Dyslexic people are unemployed, this figure is 4 times higher than the general unemployment rate.

However just looking at people who are technically classified provides a misleading picture of how ND fair in the labour market. Many ND people who want to work are classified as not economically active. Further many ND people who do work,  are in the least secure forms of employment Part time ,  Zero Hours or self-employed.

The Probability of an ND Person being unemployed

Unemployment is a flow concept. People are constantly moving in and out of employment. The average person has a 1 in 28 chance of being unemployed and is therefore likely to experience unemployment once or twice in their working life. A dyslexic person has a one in 7 chance of being unemployed and is therefore likely be unemployed 6 or 7 times during their career.  

Unemployment inequality and Neurodivergence

The chance of being unemployed is not distributed equally in society. People living in the most deprived areas are 4 times more likely to be unemployed as people living in the least deprived areas.[xii] Unemployment rates in some minority populations are nearly 3 times higher than those in the population as a whole[xiii].  ND people from minority communities, living in areas of deprivation may therefore be exposed to an extremely high risk of unemployment. (nearing 50%)  ND people in these communities are also least likely to have access to diagnosis and support.

The Impact of Education on the risk of ND people being unemployed

The Risk of Unemployment is reduced substantially by education attainment. A House of Commons briefing [xiv] Suggests the employment rate for Autistic Graduates is 3 times higher than the employment rate for autistic people in the general population (62% compared to 22%) The same report notes that graduates with cognitive or learning difficulties (neurodivergence) had the same likelihood for being in employment as nondisabled graduates.

Neurodivergent People are more likely to be self-employed, employed on temporary contracts, or portfolio work than other graduates[xv] . Professor Julie Logan[xvi] identified that Dyslexic People were nearly 100% overrepresented in a sample of entrepreneurs /self-employed people, and 300% underrepresented in a sample of middle managers (a proxy for professional and managerial occupations) . Other studies come to similar conclusions for people with ADHD traits.


[1] Quote borrowed from LinkedIn post by Marcia Brisset-Bailey https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marcia-brissett-bailey-bsc-pg-dip-qcg-ma-ipsea-6315a2b8_neurodivergent-success-story-william-james-activity-6685396984993476608-4V5T


[i] Dr Nancy Doyle – We have been disabled : How the pandemic has proved the social model of disability – Forbes 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/drnancydoyle/2020/04/29/we-have-been-disabled-how-the-pandemic-has-proven-the-social-model-of-disability/?sh=d8b3fb82b1d4

[ii] Population Estimates for the UK 2021 ONS https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2021

[iii] Ethnicity Facts and Figures UK Government 2023 https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/working-age-population/latest#:~:text=according%20to%20the%202021%20Census%2C%2062.9%25%20(37.5%20million),aged%2016%20to%2064%20years

[iv] A guide to Labour Market Statistics  ONS 2020 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatistics

[v] UK Labour Market Statistics , House of Commons 2023 https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9366/CBP-9366.pdf

[vi] A guide to Labour Market Statistics  ONS 2020 https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatistics

[vii] Catherine Bouckley  – Neurotypical Privilege in the Labour Market LSE 2022 – https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2022/02/24/neurotypical-privilege-in-the-labour-market/

[viii] 80% of Dyslexic People not Diagnosed at School BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50095218

[ix] Achievability – Westminster Commission: Neurodiverse Voices Opening Doors To Employment 2018 p6

[x] National Autistic Society – Mind the employment Gap 2021 https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/new-data-on-the-autism-employment-gap

[xi] Calculation of Unemployment rate among Dyslexic People. According to Achievability 40% of jobcentre plus users are dyslexic 1.3 X 0.4 =520 000. 10% of working age population are estimated to be dyslexic =3.75m Unemployment rate for dyslexic people is therefore calculated to be 13.8% . This 4.1 times the average unemployment rate of 3.3% (it is assumed that job centre usage is a reasonably proxy for the unemployed population.

[xii] Mind the Gap – How did Deprived Ares fare in the Recession – Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion 2017 https://ocsi.uk/2017/09/09/mind-the-gap-how-did-deprived-areas-fare-in-the-recesssion/#:~:text=Employment%20rates%20in%20the%20most,likely%20to%20have%20a%20degree).

[xiii] UK Government – Ethnicity Facts and Figures – Unemployment  (section 1) 2022 https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/unemployment-and-economic-inactivity/unemployment/latest

[xiv] Support for Disabled Students in Higher Education – House of Commons Library 2021 , Note this report draws on higher education statistics authority data which uses the phrase Social or Communication Impairment as the category which includes autistic students  . https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8716/CBP-8716.pdf

[xv] Institute of Employment Studies – Creative Graduates, Creative Futures 2009 https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/creative-graduates-creative-futures

[xvi] Julie Logan -Dyslexic Entrepreneurs , the incidence their coping Strategies and their business skills Dyslexia 2009 https://www.bayes.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/367383/julielogan-dyslexic-entrepreneurs.pdf