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Measuring Employment Statistics for People with Disabilities

Measuring Employment Statistics for People with Disabilities. David Wittenburg. Overview. Background Cross-Sectional Employment Rates Analyses of Trends and State Differences Summary. Background. Why Measure Employment of People with Disabilities?. Gaps in services

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Measuring Employment Statistics for People with Disabilities

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  1. Measuring Employment Statistics for People with Disabilities David Wittenburg

  2. Overview • Background • Cross-Sectional Employment Rates • Analyses of Trends and State Differences • Summary

  3. Background

  4. Why Measure Employment of People with Disabilities? • Gaps in services • How do people with disabilities fare relative to other populations? • Successful practices/policies for further study • Are there differences across states and localities that could inform policy development? • Policy relevance • Increasing number of policies and programs interested in promoting employment • General trends • Are policies and programs going in the right direction?

  5. What is the Employment Rate of People with Disabilities • “Employment rate of people with disabilities is still a deplorable 60 to 70 percent” • The Enquirer (October 29, 2000) • “Employment rate of people with disabilities is only 56 percent” • Department of Labor, ODEP Newsletter (February 2005) • “Employment rate of people with disabilities hovered around 35 percent” • The Accessible Society (2001)

  6. Cross-Sectional Employment Rates

  7. Employment Rate Measures are Sensitive to Several Factors • Disability conceptualizations • Definitions that range in scope and severity • Employment conceptualizations • Part-time vs. full-time • Annual vs. monthly/weekly measures • Data sources • Several surveys contain health and employment information

  8. Annual Employment Rates are Lower for People with (Severe) Activity Limitations Source: Wittenburg and Nelson (2006) based on 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation data

  9. Employment Rates are Lower for Full-Time or Shorter (e.g., monthly) Periods Source: Wittenburg and Nelson (2006) based on 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation data

  10. Annual Employment Rates Will Vary Across Data Source Source: Wittenburg and Nelson (2006) based on 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation data

  11. Summary of the Factors that Influence Employment Rates • Disability severity/population size • Employment rates will generally be lower with more severe disability definitions • Employment time frame • Full-time employment measures will produce relatively lower employment rates • Data Source • Employment rates are generally lower in data that capture lower prevalence rates • CPS and ACS have lower employment rates (and prevalence rates) than SIPP and NHIS for similar measues

  12. Trends and State Differences

  13. Several Challenges Exist to Measuring Employment Trends • Limited number of data source collect repeated information consistently • CPS • NHIS • SIPP (1984-2004) • PSID • ACS (2003-) • Tradeoff in health versus employment information • NHIS (health) vs. CPS (employment) • Surveys change questions • SIPP changed the placement of the work limitation question (Wittenburg and Nelson (2006)

  14. Employment Rates Trends Based Primarily on Activity Limitations • The following data sources have most promising information on trends • CPS (work limitations only) • NHIS (impairment, work limitations, ADLs, IADLs) • ACS (started in 2003) • Significant decline in employment among men with disabilities • Consistent with the large increase in SSA program participation

  15. Limited Information Exists at the State/Local Level • Requires the collection of representative state samples • CPS • ACS • SSA Administrative Data • Findings from Cornell website (www.data statistics.org) • Large differences in regional employment rates • Wyoming (51%) vs. West Virginia (24%)

  16. Summary

  17. Which Measure is Best? • The choice of the measure depends on policy question: • Cross Sectional Analysis of Broad Policies (e.g., New Freedom Initiative) • Several data options • Targeted Policies (e.g., SSA disability policy) • More severe definitions (ADLs, IADLs, multi-period work limitations) • Requires more health focused/specialized surveys • New surveys from specialized projects (e.g., SSA Ticket Survey)

  18. Which Measure is Best (continued)? • State analysis • Requires large sample (tradeoff of limited health information) • Limited to the ACS (most promising), CPS, and administrative data • Trends • Consistent measure over time • Generally limited to CPS, NHIS and administrative data • SIPP and ACS provide some limited options

  19. What Improvements Can be Made in Reporting Measures • Increasing need for more consistent reporting of disability measures • The term “disability” may be most problematic • Alternative: more specific reporting of measures • People with work limitations • People with functional limitations

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