Is the Status of People with Disabilities Improving?

U.S. Department of Education, OSERS/NIDRR, Room 3431, FB6, Washington, DC 20202; telephone: 202-205-5633; TDD: 800-877-8339; World Wide Web: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/NIDRR.

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National Inst. on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (ED/OSERS), Washington, DC.

Accessibility (for Disabled); Adults; Disabilities; Disability Discrimination; Employment Statistics; Income; National Surveys; Social Life; Well Being

This report discusses the findings of national surveys that show little evidence of improvement in the economic well-being of Americans with disabilities. Positive and negative findings include: (1) the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities aged 18-64 remained more or less constant, at about 52 percent between 1990 and 1994; (2) the employment rate of people aged 16-64 with work disabilities was also steady at 28 or 29 percent for 1990-1995; (3) four-fifths of employers polled said that they had made accommodations for workers with disabilities, up from 51 percent in 1986; (4) people aged 21-64 with severe functional limitations had an employment rate of 27.6 percent in late 1991 and that rate had risen to 32.2 percent by late 1994; (5) earnings remain significantly lower for workers with disabilities than typical workers; (6) in 1989, 28.9 percent of working-age adults limited in their ability to work lived in poverty and in 1994 the poverty rate was 30 percent; (7) 75 percent of people with disabilities polled said access to buildings has improved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and (8) findings indicate that the social participation of people with disabilities remains low. (CR)

1999

ED421824