Introduction

For people of working age, employment is not only the main determinant of living standards, but is also a source of personal identity, social contacts, self-esteem, and time structure (Jahoda, 1982). Exclusion from paid work is known to be a key factor in the exclusion of disabled people from wider society, but not all work is beneficial. Disabled people can often find themselves trapped in short-term, poorly paid, inflexible or unsatisfying work (Barnes, 1991; Christie and Mensah-Coker, 1999). Policies are frequently directed towards increasing the labour supply of disabled people (Thornton and Lunt, 1997; Barnes et al, 1998; Hyde, 1996) whereas changes in labour market demand are more likely to improve employment prospects for disabled people; for instance, recent increases in the employment of disabled women in the USA have been attributed to new employment opportunities, particularly part-time employment (Yelin and Cisternas, 1996).

From the perspective of the social model of disability, changes in the social organisation of work have the most potential to improve the employment prospects of disabled people (Erlanger and Roth, 1985; Oliver, 1990). This argument is borne out by research evidence, which shows that, although some disabled people require specific adaptations or equipment in order to work, the majority have needs connected with the way in which work is organised and would benefit from changes in the way work is organised, such as flexible working hours and being able to take rests when required (Prescott-Clarke, 1990; Erens and Ghate, 1993). There is conflicting evidence on whether disabled people are likely to want part-time, rather than full-time, work (Kutner, 1984; Martin et al, 1989; Prescott-Clarke, 1990; Berthoud et al, 1993) and it is not clear whether those disabled people who work part-time do so from choice or because of a lack of alternatives (Barnes et al, 1998). Some commentators have suggested that women are more likely to prefer part-time work (Thomas, 1992) and there is some evidence that disabled men do not view part-time employment as a ‘real job’ (Rowlingson and Berthoud, 1996). The quality of the work environment may also be an important factor in the overall experience of employment, especially for people with painful or tiring conditions.