Deaf people and the labour market in Sweden
Education – Employment – Economy
Emelie Rydberg
Four studies
• Rydberg, E., Coniavitis Gellerstedt, L., & Danermark, B. 2009.
Toward an equal level of educational attainment between deaf
and hearing people in Sweden? Journal of deaf studies and deaf
education 14: 312-323.
• Rydberg, E., Coniavitis Gellerstedt, L., & Danermark, B. 2010. The
position of the deaf in the Swedish labor market. American
Annals of the Deaf 155: 68-77.
• Rydberg, E., Coniavitis Gellerstedt, L., & Danermark, B. Deaf
people´s employment and workplaces – similarities and
differences in comparison with a reference population.
Submitted.
• Rydberg, E., Coniavitis Gellerstedt, L., & Danermark, B. Deaf
people´s sources of revenue and disposable income in Sweden.
Submitted.
Participants
Deaf population
2,144 individuals born 1941-1980 who attended
special schools for the deaf in Sweden and/or the
Swedish National Upper Secondary School for the
Deaf.
Reference population
100,000 randomly chosen individuals from the
total population born 1941-1980 and living in
Sweden in 2005.
Materials
Data are taken from the Integrated database for
labor market research (a database at Statistics
Sweden) and consist of registered information
from the year 2005.
Study I
Level of educational attainment (%)
Deaf population
Reference population
5%
8%
21%
Upper secondary
education
Upper secondary
education
Post-secondary
education two years
Post-secondary
education two years
15%
Post-secondary
education at least three
years
87%
64%
Post-secondary
education at least
three years
Study II
Study III
Several differences between the workplaces of the
deaf population and the reference population. For
instance, people in the deaf population are more
often employed within the public sector and at
workplaces with 100 or more employees than
people in the reference population.
People with employment displayed a similar pattern in
both populations with respect to sex, age and level of
educational attainment.
Study III
To have a higher level of educational attainment
than is required for the occupation was twice as
common for people in the deaf population than for
people in the reference population.
Study IV
Sources of revenue
Study IV
The deaf population has a lower disposable
income than the reference population.
Results
Differences between the deaf and the reference
population in level of educational attainment,
position on the labour market and income.
These differences cannot be statistically
explained by background factors, such as sex, age
and immigration background. Instead it seems as
being part of the deaf population is a decisive
factor.
Master status
A status is a position a person occupies in society
and it exists regardless of who is in it. For example
parent, student and doctor.
A master status is seen to be so important that it
affects all other statuses a person has; a master
status supersedes and dominates all other
statuses. For example sex, ethnicity and age.
Important factors in conjunction with deafness
Individual
factors
Personal factors other than deafness
X
Additional impairments
X
Education
X
Contextual
factors
X
Social context
X
Labour market context
X
Employers´ ignorance of deaf
people´s competence
X
Insufficient working conditions
X
Work capacity
X
X
Thank you!
• T
Email: emelie.rydberg@oru.se