A Comparative Analysis of Disability Policies in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom Through the Lens of the Capability Approach

Disability policy intersects many policy domains, requiring cross-governmental responses. How policy understands and responds to disability affects capabilities for millions of people. Applying Amartya Sen’s capability approach (CA) positioned in the social model of disability, this research conducts a comparative thematic analysis to evaluate how Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom’s (UK) national disability strategies may shape opportunities for disabled people to live in ways they value. No CA research currently exists on these countries’ strategies. We find both countries’ strategies perceive disability as a social issue needing government action to expand disabled people’s capabilities at the individual, community and national levels. Our framework can evaluate agency by whether policy-makers engage with disabled people (lived experts of their experiences) to create disability policy. While both strategies state the importance of including disabled people in designing policy, only NZ’s strategy consistently demonstrates disabled people drive its focus. Both strategies are limited in how they acknowledge or target the economic deprivation of disabled people as a significant barrier to those experiencing disability, and have insufficient mechanisms around monitoring implementation to ensure accountability from government agencies.