Somebody called me a cynic recently, a description to which I objected strongly. I’m a sceptic, not a cynic. A cynic believes the worst; a sceptic merely fears the worst.

One of the things about which I am sceptical is the Government’s Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People document, and the initiatives to which it has given rise. Many disabled people were thrilled when New Labour finally seemed to accept the social model of disability and prioritise the inclusion of disabled people. I wasn’t so sure. For many years, governments have been trying to save money by gettng disabled people off Incapacity Benefit and other expensive forms of social support. My worry is that New Labour’s disability rights rhetoric is a cloak for them squeezing entitlements, making life harder for disabled people who do not work.

With the Restricted Growth Association, last week my team launched “A Small Matter of Equality”, the report of a major research project exploring the lives of people with restricted growth, funded by the Big Lottery Fund. We were delighted to find that our respondents were generally successful in getting jobs, unlike other disabled people who are twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people – 57% of restricted growth people had paid work as opposed to 61% of the general population. However, we were concerned that restricted growth people weren’t getting very good jobs.

Our respondents were less than half as likely to be in managerial jobs, and twice as likely to be in routine jobs – office work or shop-floor work. While they had excellent educational qualifications – as good as, or better than, non-disabled people – their occupational roles did not match their abilities or aspirations.

For example, we talked to individuals who had wanted to become teachers, nurses, or farmers. In each case, they had been discouraged and steered towards less stimulating jobs. This is despite the fact that we also found successful examples of restricted growth teachers – and nurses – and farmers. Lots of our respondents had been encouraged towards becoming nursery nurses, or classroom assistants, or clerks. We found one woman who was a special needs assistant, despite the fact she had a degree – probably the most qualified teaching aide in the country!

We began to suspect that a rather subtle form of discrimination was operating, where gatekeepers to employment felt that restricted growth people really were not capable of top jobs, particularly not jobs where they would be managing non-disabled people. Many people who responded to our research had gone for interviews, only to realise within minutes that they had no chance of being selected. And once employed, things were similar – one person had discovered that she was being paid at half the rate of the two non-disabled people she managed. When challenged, her employer said that no one else would give her a job, so she’d have to put up with it. Thankfully, this woman resigned immediately and got a better job within a week.

From talking to other researchers, I think the experience of restricted growth people is similar to that of other impairment groups: even when they do find work, the jobs they do are often low-paid and un-stimulating. Employers use excuses, particularly the old chestnut of “Health and Safety”, to justify not giving disabled people opportunities. Disabled people also seem to be steered away from training and promotion opportunities, particularly where these involve managing others. Many people are so glad to be in employment that they put up with not having a career.

Restricted growth people felt they had to work harder than non-disabled people to prove themselves capable, and many felt that they were over-qualified for the job they were doing. We found that the majority retired early due to poor health. This meant losing everything they had worked for, suffering a big drop in income and quality of life. If they were not in well paid jobs in the first place, the financial impact was correspondingly worse.

If we are really interested in improving the life chances of disabled people – as opposed to just saving the government money – then we should be as concerned about the quality of jobs that disabled people do as we are about the overall employment rate. It’s not enough to persuade employers or to give them pats on the back for tokenism – we need strong action to prevent discrimination and to ensure that disabled people have a true chance of a real career.

“A Small Matter of Equality” can be downloaded from http://www.restrictedgrowth.co.uk/