PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Employment: Autism (1 November 2018)

Department for Work and Pensions officials have been considering how to robustly measure the employment rate among autistic people, including whether it might be possible to collect this information through the Labour Force Survey. Recent Labour Force Survey estimates of employment among disabled people published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are currently subject to health warnings, while ONS investigate an unexpected increase in the number of people reporting disabilities from July-September 2017. We are awaiting further advice from ONS, following the conclusion of their investigations. We will further consider how best to collect information on employment among autistic people in the light of that advice.