Unemployment: Autism
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of unemployment of autistic adults in the (a) South East and (b) Surrey Heath constituency on the economy.
Answered by Dame Diana Johnson
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential economic impact of trends in unemployment among autistic adults in the South East or the Surrey Heath constituency.
The 2025 publication by DWP on The employment of disabled people reported that, across the UK, 34.0% of disabled people with autism (as either main or secondary condition) aged 16-64 were in employment in 2024/25, compared to 55.3% for all non-disabled people.
This data is based on the Annual Population Survey. Data for disabled people for the South East and Surrey Heath constituency is available from the above publication (tables LMS009 and LMS010). However, equivalent data for disabled people with autism is not readily available and would be unreliable due to the small number of responses to the survey for this group in these areas.
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