Whilst overall our society may appear to offer equality and fairness to people regardless of their disability scratching the surface this is not the case in many aspects of life. When I graduate from university in June I will on average earn 18.2% less than someone who is not disabled and that is if I am lucky enough to be employed, only one in four people with a mental illness as a disability are employed.
We still have a long way to go. As great as it is that we have laws that state that we as a society should be inclusive and not discriminate against people because of their disabilities, more needs to be done. At the recent General Election the topic of disability was not mentioned enough despite 13.9 million people in the UK being disabled. The point at which the spot light fell on disability was when a candidate, who has since been elected, suggested people with learning disabilities should be paid less than the minimum wage. That moment highlighted to me that we as a society can not be complacent, equality is an ongoing battle, fighting ignorance is an ongoing battle. It is not something that can be ticked off, and it is a fight that requires people to come together, those who are and aren't disabled.
This is a problem affecting millions, it will take years of changing perceptions and raising awareness to level the playing field but it can happen. In the past one hundred years society has begun to stop seeing people with long term mental illnesses as burdens, now is the chance to give us the opportunity to contribute, we have so much to offer. What do I want to see in the next five years? I want to see more politicians fully embrace the social model of disability and remove the barriers society has created for disabled people. I want politicians to realise the many ways in which they can act to ensure equality for millions of us in this country. We need to be valued by those in power, for years people on disability benefits have had their payments cut and the application for disability benefits is often gruelling. I want a government that works with, rather than against, disabled people. We need equality urgently, people's lives are drastically being impacted by the inequality that exists in this country. Disability rights need to be an urgent priority for this government and it is up to us to ensure this happens.
Comments