State Estimates of the Prevalence of Disability in the US: Report Summary

Agencies serving people with disabilities and disability advocacy organizations may benefit from having access to information about the prevalence of disability in their specific state. For instance, with such information state vocational rehabilitation agencies could compare the number of people they serve to the estimated number of working-age persons with disabilities in their state. Using these numbers, they could then compare their service delivery rate to that of other states. In a similar manner, advocates for persons with disabilities might find such data useful in making comparisons over time and across states in their effort to change not only government policy but also the practices of private business. For example, in an effort to persuade businesses to increase access and/or marketing toward persons with disabilities, advocates can show both state government and private businesses the size of the population with disabilities within their states and how it is changing over time

2004 Disability Status Reports: United States

The Annual Disability Status Reports provide policy makers, disability advocates, reporters, and the public with a summary of the most recent demographic and economic statistics on the working-age (ages 21-64) population with disabilities. They contain information on the population size, prevalence, employment, earnings, poverty, household income, home ownership, and activity limitations of working-age people with disabilities, as well as the composition of this population by age, race, gender, and educational attainment

State Estimates of Employment Rates for Persons with Disabilities: Report Summary

Statistics on the states’ employment rates for persons with disabilities relative to their non-disabled peers may be of assistance to providers of employment services for persons with disabilities. Such information can help service providers, policy makers, and disability advocacy leaders to assess whether the employment rate of people with disabilities is improving over time, given policy, regulatory, and service intervention strategies. A recent report from the Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) for Economic Research on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities uses data from the March Current Population Survey to estimate employment rates for persons with and without a disability in the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 25 through 61) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the years 1980 through 1998. The employment rate of persons with a disability relative to that of persons without disabilities are found to vary greatly across states. Over the last 20 years the relative employment rate of those with a disability dramatically declined overall and in most states

Economics of Disability Research Report #3: Estimates of Median Household Size-Adjusted Income for Persons with Disabilities in the United States by State, 1980 through 1998

This report uses data from the March Current Population Survey to estimate median household size-adjusted income for persons with and without a disability in the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 25 through 61) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the years 1980 through 1998. The median household size-adjusted income of persons with a disability relative to those of persons without a disability varies greatly across states. Since 1980, however, the growth in the median household size-adjusted income of those with a disability has fallen below that of the rest of the working population overall and in the vast majority of states

State Estimates of Median Household Size-Adjusted Income for Persons with Disabilities: Report Summary

Since 1980, the growth in the median household size-adjusted income of Americans with a disability has fallen below that of the rest of the working population overall and in the vast majority of states. Knowledge of state-specific trends in the relative household income rate of people with disabilities compared to the rest of the working population can be of assistance to state and federal policy makers and disability advocates. Such information can help track comparisons over time to assess the impact of policy and economic interventions to address such disparities. A recent report from the Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) for Economic Research on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities uses data from the March Current Population Survey (CPS) to estimate median household size-adjusted income for persons with and without a disability in the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 25 through 61) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the years 1980 through 1998. The median household size-adjusted income of persons with a disability relative to those of persons without a disability are found to vary greatly across states. (The relative median household size-adjusted income is the median household size-adjusted income of those with disabilities as a percentage of the median household size-adjusted income of those without disabilities. The larger this number is, the closer are the median household size-adjusted incomes of those with and without disabilities.

2004 Disability Status Reports: New York Summary

The Annual Disability Status Reports provide policy makers, disability advocates, reporters, and the public with a summary of the most recent demographic and economic statistics on the working-age (ages 21-64) population with disabilities. They contain information on the population size, prevalence, employment, earnings, poverty, household income, home ownership, and activity limitations of working-age people with disabilities, as well as the composition of this population by age, race, gender, and educational attainment

2004 Disability Status Reports: United States Summary

The Annual Disability Status Reports provide policy makers, disability advocates, reporters, and the public with a summary of the most recent demographic and economic statistics on the working-age (ages 21-64) population with disabilities. They contain information on the population size, prevalence, employment, earnings, poverty, household income, home ownership, and activity limitations of working-age people with disabilities, as well as the composition of this population by age, race, gender, and educational attainment

A Comparison of the Economic Status of Working-Age Persons with Visual Impairments and Those of Other Groups

This article compares the economic status of working-age individuals with visual impairments with those with nonvisual impairments. It shows that the employment rates and mean household incomes were lower and the receipt of Social Security Disability Insurance was higher among those who were blind in both eyes than among those with less-severe visual impairments and those who were deaf in both ears

Economics of Disability Research Report #1: Estimates of the Prevalence of Disability in the United States by State, 1981 through 1999

This report uses data from the March Current Population Survey to estimate the prevalence of disability among the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 25 through 61) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the years 1981 through 1999. Two definitions of disability that are commonly used in the literature—work limitation and work disability—are utilized. The prevalence of work limitation and work disability varies greatly across states and over time. However, rankings by state and variation in prevalence over time are not dramatically affected by choice of definition

A Guide to Disability Statistics from the 2000 Decennial Census

This User Guide addresses disability data available in the 2000 Decennial Census. A decennial census of the United States is conducted every ten years to provide statistics at the national, state, and local levels. The short form of the decennial census collects basic demographic data from five out of six households, and the long form collects the same basic demographic data, plus social and economic data from the remaining one in six households. Data are also collected from group quarters (GQ), which include individuals living in institutions, a population that is rarely included in surveys. The primary purpose of the demographic data is to draw Congressional districts. The social and economic data from the long form is especially valuable because it provides social and economic statistics for small geographic areas (such as counties, towns, and Congressional districts) that are estimated in a uniform manner across the United States. The Census 2000 long form included six questions that are used to identify the population with disabilities. These data can be extremely useful to disability policymakers, disability service providers, and the disability advocacy community. This User Guide discusses the variety of information on disability, demographic characteristics, employment, and economic well-being available from Census 2000 long form data