07/11/2026
Today is Disability Pay Gap Day!
It's a day that highlights an inequality that often goes unnoticed: the difference between what disabled and non-disabled people earn, alongside the additional costs that can come with living with a disability.
The latest figures from the Trades Union Congress, the national organisation representing trade unions across the UK, put the disability pay gap at 15.5%. In real terms, that's more than £4,000 less a year on average for disabled workers.
Yet earning less is only half the story. The reality is that being disabled can mean spending considerably more just to maintain the same standard of living as someone who isn't disabled.
According to Scope's 2025 Disability Price Tag research, disabled households need an additional '£1,095 EVERY MONTH' on average to achieve the same standard of living as non-disabled households. That's £13,140 a year!
Think about what that means for someone already trying to manage the everyday challenges of living with a disability.
Heating the home may cost more because keeping warm is essential. Electricity bills can increase through the use of specialist equipment and mobility aids. There may be additional costs for accessible transport, specialist food, clothing, personal care, home adaptations and support.
These aren't luxuries or extravagant purchases. They're often necessities that help someone manage their condition, maintain some independence and get through everyday life.
What does this constant financial pressure actually do to our wellbeing?
When money is already stretched, people can find themselves having to make difficult choices between heating their home, buying suitable food, replacing essential equipment or paying for transport to attend appointments. Sometimes it means going without something that could make everyday life a little easier or help manage an existing health condition. This can have a knock-on effect on physical health. Increased stress, inadequate rest, poor nutrition or going without essential support can make existing symptoms harder to manage. Pain, fatigue and mobility difficulties can become even more challenging when the things that help us manage them are financially out of reach.
Then there's the impact on our mental and emotional wellbeing.
Living with a disability can already involve a considerable amount of adjustment, uncertainty and energy. Add financial worries into the mix and it can feel like there's very little breathing space. Constantly calculating what you can afford, worrying about unexpected expenses or feeling guilty about the additional costs your needs place on your household can become emotionally exhausting. It can affect our sleep, increase anxiety, contribute to low mood and leave us feeling overwhelmed. We may find ourselves withdrawing from social activities, turning down invitations or missing out on experiences simply because we cannot afford the additional costs involved.
We also need to remember that disability and its financial impact rarely affect just one person. Partners, parents, children and other family members often become unpaid carers, providing practical, physical and emotional support to someone they love. Some have to reduce their working hours or give up employment altogether, whilst others try to balance full-time jobs, studying, raising children and caring responsibilities.
This can bring its own financial pressures, as well as physical and emotional exhaustion. There can be feelings of worry, guilt, frustration and sometimes isolation, particularly when family members feel they have to put their own needs and wellbeing aside to support someone else.
The person living with the disability may also worry about the impact their health has on those closest to them. This can create additional feelings of guilt and anxiety, even when nobody is to blame.
In many households, the financial and emotional pressures become something the whole family carries.
'It's important to remember that physical and mental health don't exist in separate boxes.'
When we're under prolonged stress, our bodies can respond in ways that make existing symptoms more difficult to manage. Equally, when we're experiencing increased pain, fatigue or physical limitations, our emotional resilience can take a knock. Add financial insecurity to that experience and it can become a difficult cycle to break.
Through my work within the NHS, I've supported many people living with long-term health conditions and disabilities. I also understand, through my own experiences of living with multiple health conditions and disability, that the challenges aren't always visible to other people.
Sometimes the things that take the most out of us are the things nobody else sees: the planning, the calculations, the adjustments, the constant weighing up of what we can manage physically, emotionally and financially.
At Stepping Stones Wellbeing, I believe it's important to look at the whole person, not just the symptoms or difficulties they're experiencing. Our environment, circumstances, financial pressures and the support available to us can all influence how we feel and how well we're able to manage.
When someone is struggling, it's not necessarily because they aren't coping well enough or haven't found the right strategies. Sometimes they're dealing with several layers of pressure at once, and acknowledging those pressures is an important part of understanding their wellbeing.
Perhaps one of the most helpful things we can offer someone is understanding, compassion and the reassurance that they don't have to minimise what they're experiencing.
Living with a disability can already take so much physical, mental and emotional energy. Financial pressures shouldn't make that journey even harder, for the individual or the family supporting them.
☆ ~ Stepping Stones Wellbeing ~ ☆
✨️ Finding clarity, one step at a time ✨️
