New research published by the Equality Authority and the National Disability Authority, entitled ‘The Dynamics of Disability and Social Inclusion’, establishes the relationship between the experience of disability over time and its impact in the areas of employment, income and social participation. It explores for the first time how employment, earnings, household income and social participation change:
- as people acquire a disability
- when people cease to have a disability
- for people who have a disability on an ongoing basis over time.
This research was carried out by Brenda Gannon and Brian Nolan of the Economic and Social Research Institute. It was commissioned jointly by the National Disability Authority and the Equality Authority. The report makes use of data from the Living in Ireland Surveys, 1995 to 2001.
Key findings include the following:
- The onset of disability for adults of working age was associated with a decline (of approximately 20 percentage points) in the probability of being in employment.
- Disability onset was also seen to be associated with a decline in household income (in the order of 15% on average).
- Those who ceased to have a disability are found to have increased probability of employment (a rise of 7 percentage points) and increased household income (up 10%).
- Those with a disability on an ongoing basis over the whole period examined register a pronounced reduction (of 42 percentage points) in likelihood of being in employment and lower household income.
- The onset of severely hampering disability was associated with significantly lower levels of social participation. Disability that hampered the individual to some extent or not at all did not have that effect.
Professor Brian Nolan of the Economic and Social Research Institute states “Taking a dynamic perspective, following people over time rather than just looking at a cross-sectional “snapshot” brings out the impact onset of disability has on employment and living standards, which policy needs to address.“
“The impact of having a disability that emerges from this report must be a cause for concern. This impact emerges as most significant in relation to employment and household income. This is an impact that reflects a wide range of societal barriers experienced by people with disabilities. The equality legislation with its requirements on employers and service providers to make a reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities must be an important stimulus for change. However the current high level of Equality Authority casefiles on the disability ground-22 % of all casefiles- is indicative of the scale of the challenge to be met” states Niall Crowley, CEO of the Equality Authority.
“The results pose major challenges in relation to tackling the multiple barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment that face people with disabilities and in relation to the design of income support policies that provide them with an adequate standard of living“, states Angela Kerins, Chairperson of the National Disability Authority.
ENDS