Disabled people's ability to work isn't about whether they can hold a pen Disabled people?s employment rates remain around 50%, compared with more than 75% for the overall working population. Photograph: Alamy We are expecting the government to publish its flagship welfare reform bill this week. The government aims to "increase the incentives to work, and reduce the incentives to stay out of work". For disabled people this should be great news. Most disabled people want work. But the fact is that disabled people's employment rates remain around 50%, compared with more than 75% for the overall working population. More disabled people working would be good news for the economy, too. Were disabled people's employment rates to be levelled with those of non-disabled people, the economy would receive a boost of around 13bn. Unfortunately, Iain Duncan Smith's proposals for making this happen are not subtle enough to realise their potential. The government's new method for assessing a person's fitness for work is, for instance, a very blunt instrument. Someone's ability to bend their knees or hold a pen are not the only factors that determine how likely it is that they can get a job. Disabled people who can work and who want to work face myriad barriers. They have fewer opportunities to develop skills and experience, face practical obstacles, such as inaccessible transport, and often experience negative attitudes from employers. I have had a successful career in IT, in transport and have founded my own consultancy. But, as a