Diversity Statistics: October 2014
From DiversityCentral.com
By Margaret Manalo
National Disability Employment
Awareness Month
…is federally recognized and brings attention to the many issues people with disabilities must face. This awareness theme of October is sponsored by President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. 1945 The first week of October became known as National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week when Congress passed Resolution No. 176. │ 1962 In this year, a change in terminology occurred – “handicap” was replaced with “disability” and “physically” was removed from the name of the week in order to recognize employment needs of all persons with disabilities. │ 1988 Congress expanded the week to a month, and also changed the name to National Disability Employment Awareness Month. © The GilDeane Group, Inc., dba DiversityCentral.com 2014
“Disability will affect the lives of everyone at
some point in their life, it is time society
changed to acknowledge this.”
–Disabled World
About 1 in 5 people in the United States currently has a disability Over a billion people, which is about 15% of the world’s population, have some form of disability Population aging and increases in chronic health conditions, along with other causes, are increasing the rates of disability The U.S. Social Security Administration states that 33% of 20-­‐year-­‐old workers will become disabled before reaching retirement age “People with disabilities
are the world’s largest minority group,
the only one any person can join at any time.”
–Disabled World
© The GilDeane Group, Inc., dba DiversityCentral.com 2014
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation Intellectual Disabilities (ID) The labor force participation rate percentage of working-­‐age people who are either employed or unemployed, but looking for a job and the unemployment rate were collected in a survey for 2011 to 2012. Unfortunately, the labor force of people with ID were only about half of the general population labor force – 44% vs. 83%. THEREFORE More than half of people with ID have dropped out of or were never in the workforce. January 2014 issue “National Snapshots of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in the Labor Force” Over two years, The Gallup organization telephonically screened 341,000 Americans and identified over 1,000 parents or guardians of adult children with an intellectual disability. Findings included: -­‐Only 34% of people with ID are employed on a national scale. -­‐Of the people with ID in employment: 53% are employed competitively (work alongside people without disabilities at a market-­‐driven wage); 38% in a sheltered workshop (work centers specifically for people with disabilities); and 9% in other settings (such as being self-­‐employed). ALSO Unemployment rate for people with ID was more than twice as high as the general population’s during the time period of the survey – 21% vs. 9%. FURTHERMORE Most people with ID work part-­‐
time and many only receive minimum wage. -­‐Of those competitively employed: 28% work in customer service; 17% in retail; 16% in food service; 9% in offices; 8% in manufacturing; and 22% in other sectors such as childcare and landscaping. -­‐Of the adults with ID employed in a competitive setting, over half (62%) have been with their job for three or more years. -­‐However, only 26% of those employed adults with ID have full-­‐time, and just a third were offered health insurance by their employer. © The GilDeane Group, Inc., dba DiversityCentral.com 2014
“Persons with a Disability Employment Report” -­‐U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Barriers to Employment Those with a disability and not employed in May 2012 identified the following barriers: 80.5% one’s own disability 14.1% lack of education or training 11.7% lack of transportation 10.3% the need for special features at the job Difficulty Completing Work Duties In May 2012, over half of employed people with a disability reported that their disability caused difficulty in completing work duties with the following breakdown: 27.8% little difficulty Requesting Changes in the Workplace People with a disability and employed were more likely to request a change in their current workplace to do their job better (12.5%) than those without a disability (8.4%). Such changes included: New or modified equipment Physical changes to the workplace Policy changes to the workplace Changes in work tasks Job structure or schedule Changes in communication or information sharing © The GilDeane Group, Inc., dba DiversityCentral.com 2014
21.1% moderate difficulty 7.0% severe difficulty While 44.4% had no difficulty completing their work duties Sources:
National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2014, from
http://www.archives.gov/eeo/special-observances/#oct
Persons with a Disability Employment Report. (2013, April 29). Retrieved October 14, 2014,
from http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/employment-report.php
World Facts and Statistics on Disabilities and Disability Issues. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10,
2014, from http://www.disabled-world.com/
© The GilDeane Group, Inc., dba DiversityCentral.com 2014