Indicator: 67 - Employment Rates of the Disabled

Why This Is Important

A strong economy requires the contributions that we ALL have to offer. If a class of people
is under-represented in the labor force, the economy is missing out on the valuable skills,
abilities, and assets those persons have to offer. For purposes of this Mark, persons with a
disability are those who have a “health problem or disability which prevents them from
working or which limits the kind or amount of work they can do.” A significant number of
people with disabilities are not in the labor force, and many have dropped out of the labor
force because of the difficulties they face in gaining meaningful and rewarding employment.
For example, information from the 2002 Current Population Survey shows that an estimated
3,269,000 out of the 13,474,000 (24.3%) non-institutionalized civilians aged 18-64 who
reported a work-limiting health problem or disability were in the labor force in that year.

 

 

Where We Stand

Using five-year moving averages, the employment rate nationwide for civilian,
non-institutionalized people aged 18-64 with disabilities dropped consistently from 36.9%
in1990-1994 to 32.1% in 1998-2002. The employment rate has consistently been higher
in Maine, dropping from 41.3% in 1990-1994 to 35.4% in 1994-1998, then rising
consistently to 40.3% at the end of the period.

Data Sources and Context

The data were calculated by the Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training
Center using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which is conducted by the
Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These statistics were posted on May
15, 2003 at http://www.disabilitystatistics.org.