Evidence review: Employment of deaf people and people with hearing loss in the UK

Conclusions and future research

This review has identified a range of barriers and facilitators to the employment of deaf people and people with hearing loss.

UK statistics show that deaf people and people with hearing loss are underemployed, more likely to be economically inactive, and more likely to have lower household income than hearing colleagues.

This review identified potential factors behind this gap: attitudes from colleagues and managers, deaf awareness and access to British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation, problems accessing reasonable adjustments, environmental and systemic barriers, and challenges related to the Access to Work scheme.

However, research on these topics are limited. The included studies had considerable variation in their design and sample sizes, making it difficult to generalise the findings of this review. There are key gaps, particularly relating to people who are not economically active, experiences of getting into work, and the intersection of being deaf or having hearing loss with other socio-demographic characteristics. These gaps should be addressed as a matter of priority. We have identified four key areas for future research.

Firstly, more research is needed regarding the experiences of young people transitioning from education to employment. Limited research exists demonstrating that access to careers guidance can be a barrier or facilitator, but this transition is affected by more than careers guidance, and is a key step in the career pathway of a young person.

Secondly, the research we found focuses primarily on the experiences of people currently in work. Closing the employment gap requires understanding the experiences and needs of people who are currently economically inactive, particularly those furthest from the labour market.

Thirdly we found no studies that evaluated interventions to address the barriers people face in the workplace, or improve access to employment for people who are economically inactive. It is possible to suggest reasonable steps such as boosting organization-wide inclusion policies and improving access to BSL interpretation, but long-term change will require evidence-based strategies.

Finally, no included studies explore the intersectional identities of deaf people and people with hearing loss in the UK. Data shows that the disability employment gap is wider for men, older people, people with no qualifications, people living in social housing, people not living in a couple, people living in Northern Ireland, the North of England, Scotland and Wales, and people who are in the ‘White’ ethnic group (DWP 2025).

A study of young people in Scotland who were deaf or had hearing loss also found that barriers to applying for work were exacerbated for young people with lower levels of educational qualifications and social networks (Fordyce and Riddell 2015). This suggests that there are likely to be sociodemographic inequalities among deaf people and people with hearing loss, and this should be considered in future research.

In general there is a clear need for robust research to improve the accessibility of UK workplaces, close the employment gap, and support deaf people and people with hearing loss to thrive in work.

It is clear that there are a wide range of barriers to equitable access to employment opportunities and career development. Addressing these has potential to boost both wellbeing and productivity, and should be a priority for future research.