Disability reportPeople with a disability are two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than able-bodied people, according to a report published yesterday.
The National Disability Authority report, Disability and Work: The picture we learn from the statistics, finds "only a small minority of employers have employees with a disability, relatively few have made changes to the job or workplace to facilitate disabled workers and half of employers are unaware of the grants and supports available to employ disabled workers".
The report also finds young disabled people have significantly lower participation in education, with one-third of those with a disability aged 15 to 19 years already out of the education system.
The report, which draws together a range of statistics from the Census and the Quarterly National Household Survey, for example, underlines the stark disparities between the non-disabled and disabled in employment rates. The different sources indicate employment to be, for example, in the 25 to 34 age group, running at 45 per cent for men and 41 per cent for women. "The employment rate of people with disabilities in each age group is roughly half that of the non-disabled, and falls to a third in the 50-plus age group."
People with disability are also more likely to work part-time.
People with sight or hearing problems are still more likely to have a job than those with a learning disability or a severe physical disability or those who need help getting dressed.
Mobility problems are also a significant obstacle to being in work, despite many occupations not intrinsically requiring an ability to walk. "Most office jobs are in this category." However, the report says, "the employment rate of this group is 33 per cent lower than the non-disabled. The large gap may reflect barriers other than the ability to perform a job".
These include inaccessible workplaces and suitable and accessible transport. While those out of work can get a mobility allowance, those in work have limited access to this help, the report says.
Just 8 per cent of those disabled and working report that their employers provided assistance, while 19 per cent of those out of work say they would be able to work if there was workplace assistance.
It quotes a Manpower survey showing 88 per cent of employers reported having no disabled workers and just 10 per cent of them had made any change to facilitate disabled employees.
"Clearly, there is a need to increase awareness among private sector employers of the supports that there are to retrain workers and to adapt the workplace or purchase equipment to facilitate a disabled employee."
It also says that while work is important financially, it also "provides people with the opportunity to meet and socialise with colleagues and participate in the wider society". If the employment rate among disabled people who don't have difficulties holding a job were to be on a par with that of their non-disabled peers, the report says an extra 13,000 people would be in work.
