Disability Statistics: Census 2000 Long-Form and the American Community Survey

1. Disability Statistics: Census 2000 Long-Form and the American Community Survey Presenter: Andrew J. Houtenville, Ph.D. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Economic Research on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities Program on Employment and Disability Cornell University Slide 1

2. Introduction of Myself • I am an Economist/Statistician. • Specialize in using large national surveys to measure the prevalence of disability, employment rates and incomes of people with disabilities. • Also study the self-perception of disability and the interaction of employment and participation in Social Security Administration (SSA) Programs. • Other interests include poverty issues, the “returns to educations” and personal and family adjustments to the onset of a disability. Slide 2

3. Disability Statistics Dissemination and Research at Cornell • Cornell RRTC on Employment Policy, is funded NIDRR, to use national data sources surveys to evaluate the impact of employment policy for people with disabilities. • Funded by NIDRR to analyze and utilize large the Census 2000 results with respect to demographics and outcomes. • Recently awarded the Disability Statistic RRTC to do more of the same with other data sources, and study at survey methods. • Funded by the National Center for Education Statistics to study the composition, testing accommodations and proficiency scores of the student population with disabilities. Slide 3

4. Census 2000 Long-Form: Introduction • Most household received the Census 2000 short-form, but one-in-six households receives the long-form. • The long-form solicits information needed to allocate resources the the local level with regard to government resources such as housing and transportation. • It is used widely in the areas of community development, urban planning and service delivery forecasting. • The long-form also contains six questions related to disability. Slide 4

5. Census 2000 Long-Form: Statistics • Provides statistics at the local level (e.g., county, city, town, reservation) • Provides statistics on personal and household levels. • Provides a variety of different social participation statistics, such as, employment, poverty, income, mass-transit usage, educational attainment. • Disability statistics are available from the Census Bureau broken down by gender age, race/ethnicity, and type of disability (6 broad categories), although many more can be generated. • Some social participation statistics are provided for the population with disabilities – e.g., employment and poverty. Slide 5

6. Census 2000 Long-Form: Accessing Statistics • There is a Census Bureau publication on disability, www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-17.pdf • Basic local profiles are available through the Census Bureau web site … check out www.census.gov/hhes/www/disable/steps.html ... also read over the MSWord document I provided called “Census 2000 Data.doc” for instructions and an interpretation of statistics. • More detailed statistics are available through the Census Bureau web site, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet. This site is complex. • The “raw data” for 6 percent of the sample is available through the Public-Use Microdata (PUMS) files. With these files you can calculate other cross-tabulations not disseminated by the Census Bureau. • In the future, go to www.disabilitystatistics.org, we will be using the PUMS files to calculate other statistics. Slide 6

7. Census 2000 Long-Form: Disability Questions 16. Does this person have any of the following long-lasting conditions: • Blindness, deafness, or a severe vision or hearing impairment? (Yes, No) • A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying? (Yes, No) 17. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any of the following activities: • Learning, remembering, or concentrating? (Yes, No) • Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home? (Yes, No) • (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor’s office? (Yes, No) • (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Working at a job or business? (Yes, No) Slide 7

8. Census 2000 Long-Form: Criticisms and Concerns • The breakdowns of disability are very broad and put people with very different disabilities into the same category. • There has been concern from the very beginning that these questions are too long and thus respondents may misinterpret the questions. • According to some Census Bureau analysis, there is some preliminary evidence that there was a problem with the last two questions (17c and 17d). For households who had a Census worker come to their house, there is some concern that these two questions were misread or misperceived because they came after a page turn. Slide 8

9. American Community Survey (ACS) • The ACS is a Census Bureau survey, that is the same questionnaire as the Census 2000 long-form, (but does not suffer from the page-turn problem). • It is an annual survey, so it will be more up-to-date. • It is designed to give local estimates, currently at the county level. • It is likely to be widely used by local governments in the areas of housing, transportation, community development and planning. • Statistics from the 2002 ACS are available on the Census Bureau web site. • We will be working with the ACS extensively and be adding it to our web site, www.disabilitystatistics.org Slide 9