The Life Opportunities Survey 2009-2012
What people told us about taking part in
different areas of life
Important
This is a big booklet, but you may not want to read all of it.
Look at the list of contents on page 3. It shows you what is
in the booklet. Look down the list to find things you want to
read about.
Purple writing
In this Easy Read booklet we sometimes explain what words
mean.
The first time we mention any of these words, it is in bold purple
writing. We then write what the words mean in a blue box.
These words and what they mean are also in a word list at the
back of the booklet.
If any of the words are used later in the booklet, we show them
in normal purple writing. If you see words in normal purple
writing, you can look up what they mean by looking for the blue
box earlier in the booklet, or by looking at the word list.
Contents
About the Life Opportunities Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About this booklet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
About not being able to fully take part in areas of life . . . 11
The most important things we found out from Wave One
and Wave Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Barriers to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The most important things we found out from
Wave One and Wave Two about work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Things people need to help them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Barriers to education and training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The most important things we found out from Wave
One and Wave Two about education and training . . . . . . 16
Barriers to using transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The most important things we found out from
Wave One and Wave Two about transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
What we found out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Word list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3
About the Life Opportunities Survey
The Life Opportunities Survey is a big survey that started
in June 2009.
Survey
This is when we ask a big group of people questions to find out
what they think about something.
The survey is paid for by the Department for Work and
Pensions, but the survey work is done by the Office for
National Statistics.
Department for Work and Pensions
This is the part of government that is in charge of benefits
and pensions. It does a lot of work to make sure families with
children have enough money to live on.
4
Office for National Statistics
This is a government office that makes sure Parliament has really
good information and facts about people’s lives. It does surveys to
find out information. The government then uses the information
to think about how it spends taxpayers’ money, what laws are
needed, and what it should do to make things fairer.
The Life Opportunities Survey tells us a lot about the lives of
disabled people and what needs to be done so that disabled
people get full equality.
Equality
This means having the same chances in life as everyone else.
It is the first big survey to look at how barriers can stop people
with impairments from living their lives the way they want to.
Barriers
These are things that may stop people living their lives the way
they want to, or stop them doing the everyday things they
want to do. Barriers include things like being treated unfairly,
or not getting enough support to do the things you want.
Impairment
This is something about the way a person is able to do things.
It may be things like being unable to walk well, not being able
to see or hear other people clearly, not being able to think hard
for a long time, or not being able to remember things.
5
But having an impairment does not mean a person is disabled.
Disabled
We say someone is disabled if they have an impairment and
barriers stop them doing the things in life that they want to do.
A person with an impairment may be able to live their life the
way they want to. That person may not think they are disabled.
And other people may not think the person is disabled even
though they have an impairment.
A person is said to be disabled if they meet these 2 rules.
• They have an impairment.
• Barriers stop them doing things that other people can do.
6
Barriers for adults with impairments include these things.
• Being treated unfairly.
• People thinking and acting towards them in a different way.
• Buildings that people with walking difficulties find it hard
to get about in.
• Finding it hard to use transport services, like buses and trains,
easily.
• Not getting equipment or changes to their way of working
to help them live and work like other people.
For the Life Opportunities Survey we talk to the same people
over a long period of time.
7
We try to speak to the same people every year or so. This
means we can find out how a person’s life changes as they
get older.
We started talking to people for the first time between June
2009 and March 2011. This was called Wave One.
We talked to the same people again between June 2010 and
March 2012. This was called Wave Two.
8
About this booklet
This booklet looks at how adults found it hard to fully take
part in different areas of life. We also look at the barriers that
adults came across during the 2 waves of the Life Opportunities
Survey.
We look closely at these things.
• If the way people found it hard to fully take part in different
areas of life changed between Wave One and Wave Two.
• If people told us about some barriers during Wave One and
Wave Two. Or if they told us about barriers during just 1 of
the waves.
We put the people we talked to into 4 groups.
• Group 1. We put people in this group if they had at least 1
impairment at both Wave One and Wave Two.
• Group 2. We put people in this group if they had at least 1
impairment at Wave One, but did not have an impairment
at Wave Two.
• Group 3. We put people in this group if they did not have an
impairment at Wave One, but had at least 1 impairment at
Wave Two.
• Group 4. We put people in this group if they did not have an
impairment at either Wave One or Wave Two.
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About not being able to fully take part in
areas of life
In this booklet, we say an adult is not able to fully take part in a
life area if they come across at least 1 barrier in that area.
In this booklet we look at the four groups of adults in 3 areas
of life.
1Using learning and training services.
2Working, or trying to find work.
3Using transport services, like buses and trains.
10
The most important things we found
out from Wave One and Wave Two
People with an impairment seem to be more likely to find it
hard to fully take part in an area of life.
People in Group 1 were most likely to find it hard to fully take
part in some areas of life. In particular, in work, transport and
getting around outside the home.
People in Group 2 were less likely to find it hard to fully take
part in areas of life at Wave Two than at Wave One.
People in Group 3 were more likely to find it hard to fully take
part in areas of life at Wave Two than at Wave One.
Most adults, with or without an impairment, found it hard to
fully take part in at least 1 of the areas of life at both Wave One
and Wave Two. The 2 areas of life that people found it hardest
to fully take part in were transport and leisure.
11
Barriers to work
Some adults aged 16 to 64 who had a job at both Wave One
and Wave Two have barriers to work that stop them doing
some jobs.
The barriers that adults aged 16 to 64 who were not working
and not looking for a job came across, were the reason they did
not work or look for work.
The most important things we found out from
Wave One and Wave Two about work
Adults who had a job at both Wave One and Wave Two said
that common barriers at work were looking after their family,
not having many jobs to go for and not having qualifications,
work experience and skills.
Adults in Group 1 who had a job at both Wave One and Wave
Two were more likely to say they find it hard to fully take part in
work than adults in Group 4 who had a job at both waves.
Having an impairment may be the reason people come across
barriers to do with their impairment in their job.
• At Wave One and Wave Two, some people in Group 1 said
their health condition, illness or impairment was the top
barrier.
• At Wave One, some people in Group 2 said their health
condition, illness or impairment was a barrier.
• At Wave Two, some people in Group 3 said their health
condition, illness or impairment was a barrier.
12
For adults who did not have a job and were not looking for a job
at both Wave One and Wave Two, looking after the family was
a common reason for not working.
People in Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 who did not have a job
and were not looking for a job were likely to say that this was
because of their impairment or disability.
13
Things people need to help them
Most adults who had a job at both Wave One and Wave Two
did not tell us about anything that helped them at work.
Most adults who did not have a job and were not looking for a
job did not tell us about anything that they needed to be able
to work.
The most common things that helped people in their job were
when these things happened.
• Their hours of work were changed to suit them.
• They could work for fewer hours.
• They got tax credits.
Tax credits
Tax credits are payments from the government. If you
have at least one child or young person who normally
lives with you, you may get Child Tax Credit. If you have
a job, but you are on a low wage, you may get Working
Tax Credit.
14
Barriers to education and training
The most important things we found out from
Wave One and Wave Two about education
and training
Adults aged 16 to 64 told us these things.
• Most adults said they did not find it hard to take part in
education or training during Wave One and Wave Two.
• Compared with people in Group 4, people in Group 1 were
two times as likely to find it hard to take part in education or
training in at least 1 of the waves.
15
• The most common barrier to education or training was the
cost. It made no difference if the person had an impairment
or not.
• The second most common barrier to education or training
was that the person was too busy or did not have enough
time. This was reported by people in Groups 2, 3 and 4.
• People in Group 1 were likely to think that their impairment
affected their ability to take part in education or training
more than any other barrier.
• Most people in Group 2 and Group 3 who had barriers to
education or training did not say that this was because of
their impairment.
16
Barriers to using transport
The most important things we found out from
Wave One and Wave Two about transport
Adults aged 16 to 64 told us these things.
• The most common barrier to transport was the cost. It made
no difference if the person had an impairment or not.
• Out of the people who reported a barrier, the number of
people who reported cost as a barrier to transport was
highest for taxis and minicabs, and lowest for local buses.
17
• More people in Wave Two said cost was a barrier to using
motor vehicles compared with people in Wave One. This was
not said for other types of transport. This happened at the
same time as a rise in the cost of fuel and car insurance.
Motor vehicles
Motor vehicles are cars, vans, motorcycles, scooters and
mopeds.
• People in Group 1 were likely to say that their impairment
affected the way they use motor vehicles, local buses, long
distance trains, and taxis or minicabs.
• People were more likely to say that there were certain
barriers to using transport at either Wave One only or Wave
Two only, rather than at both waves. This seems to show that
the barriers only last for a short time.
18
What we found out
Our report shows that finding it hard to fully take part in areas
of life is something that happens to most adults in Great
Britain.
Transport and leisure activities were the 2 areas in which most
people found it hard to fully take part.
Adults told us about some barriers quite often.
• Cost was the main barrier to education and training, and
transport.
• Looking after family was the main barrier to work.
19
Some of the barriers we were told about may have been
because of what was happening in the country at the time.
For example,
• there could have been fewer chances of a job because the
number of people out of work was going up at the time.
• the cost of using motor vehicles went up because fuel and
car insurance prices were going up at the time.
Our report shows that there is a link between impairment and
finding it hard to take part.
Adults in Group 1, with at least 1 impairment at both waves,
found it harder to take part than people from other groups.
People in Group 1 were the only people who regularly reported
a barrier to work, education and training, and transport
because of an impairment.
Most people told us about barriers at either Wave One only or
Wave Two only, rather than at both waves. This shows how
barriers are likely to be affected by changes in a person’s life as
well as by things that affect the country as a whole.
The link between barriers and impairment is complicated.
This is because people deal with impairments and barriers in
different ways that are likely to change over time for a number
of reasons.
20
Word list
Barriers
These are things that may stop people living their lives
the way they want to, or stop them doing the everyday
things they want to do. Barriers include things like being
treated unfairly, or not getting enough support to do the
things you want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Department for Work and Pensions
This is the part of government that is in charge of benefits
and pensions. It does a lot of work to make sure families
with children have enough money to live on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Disabled
We say someone is disabled if they have an impairment
and barriers stop them doing the things in life that they
want to do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Equality
This means having the same chances in life as
everyone else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
21
Impairment
This is something about the way a person is able to do
things. It may be things like being unable to walk well,
not being able to see or hear other people clearly, not
being able to think hard for a long time, or not being
able to remember things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Motor vehicles
Motor vehicles are cars, vans, motorcycles, scooters
and mopeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Office for National Statistics
This is a government office that makes sure Parliament
has really good information and facts about people’s lives.
It does surveys to find out information. The government
then uses the information to think about how it spends
taxpayers’ money, what laws are needed, and what it
should do to make things fairer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Survey
This is when we ask a big group of people questions
to find out what they think about something . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Tax credits
Tax credits are payments from the government. If you have
at least one child or young person who normally lives with
you, you may get Child Tax Credit. If you have a job, but
you are on a low wage, you may get Working Tax Credit . . . . 15
22
How to contact us
[email protected]
Telephone 01633 455296
Letters
Life Opportunities Survey Research Team
Post Room
Office for National Statistics
Government Buildings
Cardiff Road
Newport NP10 8XG
Produced by the Office for National Statistics
© Crown copyright
Produced in the UK, March 2014