Employment Among Working-Age People with Disabilities:
What the latest Data Can Tell Us
Synopsis
We
review the recent evidence on the employment experiences of the working-age
population with disabilities gained from four large representative samples
of the United States population: the Current Population Survey-Annual
Social and Economic Supplement, American Community Survey, the National
Health Interview Survey, and the Survey of Income and Program Participation
linked to Social Security Administration records. Using a consistent
conceptualization of disability we put the employment patterns of the
working-age population with disabilities captured in these data within a
coherent framework. We conclude that the patterns we find cannot be explained
by differences in underlying impairment across time, states or within these
populations at a given time or place. Rather we argue that the work
environment, rehabilitation opportunities, and individual responses to
these external factors by those with a given level of impairment are likely
to be as important in explaining these employment patterns as differences
as health-related factors.
Manuscript under review
For more information, contact EDI:
DisabilityStatistics@cornell.edu
