Statistics About People with Disabilities and Employment

Although many people with disabilities are being employed and remaining employed, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is unacceptably high, as shown in the 1994-95 National Health Interview Survey. This survey found that 79 percent of adults without disabilities were working at the time they were interviewed and only 37 percent of those with disabilities were employed. Two federally funded studies published in 2000 give some insight into why the unemployment rate is so high among persons with disabilities and provide data on what employers are doing in the areas of employing and accommodating workers with disabilities.

Why Adults With Disabilities Have 
Difficulty Finding Jobs

Source: "Barriers and Supports for Work among Adults with Disabilities: Results from the NHIS-D;" Pamela Loprest, Elaine Maag, January 2001, The Urban Institute, Washington DC

The Urban Institute used information from the Disability Supplement of the National Interview Survey (NHIS-D) to look at barriers to employment for adults with disabilities. Sixteen thousand persons with disabilities were asked about their disability, their work and their need for accommodation. The researchers used respondents' self-reports of specific activity limitations to define disability. By this definition, the researchers calculated that there were 11.3 million working-age adults (18 to 64) with disabilities of whom 37 percent were working in 1994-1995.

The researchers separated the sample into two categories: "high likelihood" to work, defined as those for whom accommodations will enable work or who reported their disabilities were not work limiting, and "low likelihood," defined as those who reported they were retired from work or could not work even with accommodations.

Some of the key findings regarding the "high likelihood" group are outlined below:

Looking for Work: 
More than half of the non-working adults with disabilities who were studied encountered difficulties. The most frequently cited reasons for being discouraged from looking for work were:

• No appropriate jobs available-52%
• Family responsibilities-34%
• Lack of transportation-29%
• No appropriate information about jobs-23%
• Inadequate training-21.6%
• Fear of losing health insurance or Medicaid-20.1%
• Discouraged from working by family and friends-14%

Work Accommodations: 
Both persons with disabilities who were working and those not working stated a need for similar types of accommodations. One-third of non-working persons with disabilities reported the need for some type of accommodations. The other two-thirds could work without accommodations or were unaware of specific accommodations that might make work possible. The most common accommodations cited were:

• Accessible parking or accessible public transit stop nearby-19%
• Need for an elevator-17%
• Adaptations to work station-15%
• Special work arrangements (reduction in work hours, reduced or part-time hours, job redesign)-12%
• Handrails or ramp-10.4%
• Job Coach-5.6%
• Specific office supplies-4.5%
• Personal Assistant-4.0%
• Braille, enlarged print, special lighting or audiotape-2.5%
• Voice synthesizer, TTY, Infrared System, or other technical device-1.8%
• Reader, Oral or Sign Language Interpreter-1.8%

How Employers Are Doing When it Comes to Hiring and Making Accommodations for Workers with Disabilities

Source: "Disability Employment Policies and Practices in Private and Federal Sector Organizations," Susanne M. Bruyere, March 2000, Cornell University, Program on Employment and Disability, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Extension Division 

Cornell University conducted two research initiatives to examine employer practices in response to the employment provisions of Title I of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related civil rights legislation. Cornell interviewed by phone a random sample of human resource and equal employment opportunity personnel from the public and private sectors. Key findings of those initiatives are discussed below. 

Meeting Accommodation and Access Needs of Applicants and Employees with Disabilities: 
Listed below are the 11 areas of accommodations and five access areas outlined in the study and the percentage of employers who stated they had made accommodations in these areas.

Identifying Barriers to Employment and Advancement for People with Disabilities:
Respondents were asked to rate seven possible barriers to employment and advancement of people with disabilities. Lack of related experience was seen as the biggest barrier by both the public and private sector employers. The results in this area are outlined below.

Additional questions in this area were related to rating ways of reducing employment and advancement barriers, changes made in the workplace to meet the needs of employees with disabilities and the difficulty in making these changes. The results of the respondents' replies are outlined below.

These studies show that much still needs to be done to bring the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities into line with that of the general public. Progress is being made. More will need to be done by persons with disabilities, educators, rehabilitation counselors and the public and private employment communities if we are to achieve full integration of persons with disabilities into employment.

Key areas that need to be addressed are improvement in the education and training of persons with disabilities, more outreach on the part of the employment community to recruit persons with disabilities, a better understanding of reasonable accommodation and a concerted effort to break through the attitudinal barrier that is so detrimental to full integration of people with disabilities into the employment arena.

This publication is available in alternate formats.

July 2001