Economics of Disability Research Report #4: Estimates of the Prevalence of Disability, Employment Rates, and Median Household Size-Adjusted Income for People with Disabilities Aged 18 though 64 in the United States by State, 1980 through 2000

Abstract

This report replicates Economics of Disability Reports 1, 2, and 3, with some minor changes. These reports contain the prevalence of a disability, employment rates, and median household size-adjusted income between states over the 1980s and 1990s. In response to the requests of state officials to generate statistics that reflect the population they serve, this report includes people aged 18 through 64 rather than people aged 25 through 61. The new age group is more likely to include those who enter the labor force after high school, during college, and post-college as well as those people who have decided not to take early retirement. In addition, at the request of state officials, the statistics in this report are not separated by gender because most government agencies do not make a strong distinction between men and women, even though men and women face different labor market conditions. This report uses data from the March Current Population Survey to estimate the prevalence of a disability, employment rate, and median household size-adjusted income among the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 18 through 64) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the survey years 1981 through 2000 and income/employment years 1980 through 1999. Two definitions of disability that are commonly used in the literature—work limitation and work disability—are utilized. The prevalence of a work limitation and work disability varies greatly across states and over time. The employment rate of persons with work limitations relative to that of persons without a disability varies greatly across states. However, over the last 20 years the relative employment rate of those with work limitations dramatically declined overall and in most states. Consequently, the decrease in the relative employment rate for persons with work limitations induced the growth in the median household size-adjusted income of those with work limitations