ODDC- News Release and Summary of 2000 Harris Survey on People with Disabilities

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TITLE: News Release and Summary of 2000 Harris Survey on People with Disabilities

AUTHOR: Brewster Thackeray, Director of Communications, NOD and Daniel Maiello

INTRODUCTION: On July 19, 2000, the National Organization on Disability released a survey that revealed gaps in participation between people with disabilities and other Americans in employment, income, education, socializing, religious and political participation, and access to transportation and healthcare. Senator Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in the Vietnam War, revealed the findings. The survey of 997 adults with disabilities and 953 adults without disabilities conducted in May and June 2000, found that while overall people with disabilities lag somewhat or very far behind people without disabilities in ten key measures of quality of life, the past decade has seen notable improvements for people with disabilities. These improvements can be attributed to the ADA, IDEA, a (then) booming economy, and substantial growth in technology. However people with disabilities are not a homogenous group. People with slight or moderate disabilities are less likely than the general population to fare well on all ten quality of life indicators, but they fare significantly better than people with somewhat or very severe disabilities do. Finally over the last fourteen years since this research has been conducted, there has been signs of improvements for those people who say they are able to work.

Of all people with disabilities who are at a working age (aged 18-64), only 3 out of 10 (32%) are employed full or part-time, compared to eight in ten working-age people without disabilities (81%) - a gap of 49 percentage points. However, among those who say they are able to work despite their disability or health problem, fully 56% of people with disabilities are working, and the gap between people with and without disabilities is 25%.
Over the past fourteen years, there has been noticeable improvement in employment among those who say they are able to work; 56% of people with disabilities who say they are able to work are working today, compared to 46% in 1986.
The employment picture for 18-29 year olds is the most promising. Among this group, 57% of those with disabilities who are able to work are working, compared to 72% of their non-disabled counterparts - a gap of 15%.
Among the employed, people with disabilities are somewhat less likely than people without disabilities to say that their jobs require them to use their full talents and abilities (40% versus 48% respectively).
Among the unemployed, more than 2 out of 3 people with disabilities (67%) would prefer to work.

People with disabilities are almost three times as likely as people without disabilities to live in poverty, having a household income of $15,000 or less (29% versus 10% respectively) - a gap of 19 percentage points.
People with disabilities are half as likely than people without disabilities to live in households that earn more than $50,000 annually (16% versus 40% respectively)
Among 18-29 year olds, the gaps are only 9 points in both cases - those with household incomes of $15,000 or less and those with household incomes of $50,000 or more.

More than 1 out of 5 people with disabilities failed to complete high school (22%), compared to less than 1 out of 10 people without disabilities (9%) - a gap of 13 percentage points.
Slightly more than 1 out of 10 people with disabilities (12%) have graduated from college, compared to 23% of their non-disabled counterparts.
However, in the past fourteen years, there has been marked progress in the area of education. In fact, almost 8 out of 10 people with disabilities (77%) have graduated from high school today, compared to 6 out of 10 (61%) in 1986.

People with and without disabilities are equally likely to have health insurance of some kind (90% versus 89% respectively).
People with disabilities are three times as likely to not have received needed health care on at least one occasion last year, when compared to people without disabilities (19% and 6% respectively) - a gap of 13 percentage points. Similarly, people with disabilities are much more likely to postpone seeking needed health care because they could not afford it (28% versus 12% respectively).
People with disabilities are also four times as likely, when compared to people without disabilities, to have special needs that are not covered by their health insurance (28% versus 7% respectively).

People with disabilities are much more likely to consider inadequate transportation to be a problem (30% versus 10% respectively) - a gap of 20 percentage points.

People with disabilities are less likely to go to restaurants at least once a week than people without disabilities (40% versus 59%) - a gap of 19 percentage points.
Similarly, people with disabilities less likely than people without disabilities to: visit a supermarket or food store at least once a week (55% versus 83%), visit a department store, mall or shopping center at least once a week (23% versus 41%); go to movies or theater 4 or more times a year (22% versus 48%); go to live popular music performances 4 or more times per year (9% versus 16%); go to a sports event 4 or more times a year (15% versus 35%); and go to events related to their hobbies such as dancing, art shows, or events for collectors 4 or more times a year (21% versus 36%)
The most encouraging signs are seen among the youngest group of 18-29 years olds. These younger people with disabilities are almost as likely as their non-disabled counterparts to go out to restaurants at least once a week (59% versus 61%).
Significant majorities of people with and without disabilities socialize with friends, family, and neighbors at least once a week. However, people with disabilities still socialize less than people without disabilities (85% versus 70% respectively) - a gap of 15 percentage points.
Younger people with disabilities (aged 18-29) are almost as likely as their non-disabled counterparts to socialize with close friends, relatives, or neighbors (89% versus 90%).

Approximately half of people with disabilities (47%) attend religious services at least once a month. However, 65% of people without disabilities do the same - a gap of 18 percentage points.

People with disabilities are less likely to be registered to vote than people without disabilities (62% versus 78% respectively) - a gap of 16 percentage points.

Half as many people with disabilities say that they are very satisfied with life in general, when compared to people without disabilities (33% versus 67% respectively) - a gap of 34 percentage points.
However, as with many of the other indicators, this gap in life satisfaction decreases for younger people aged 18 to 29. For this youngest group, 44% of people with disabilities, compared to 57% of people without disabilities, say they are "very satisfied with life" - a gap of 13 percentage points.
People with disabilities expect their quality of life to get better over the next four years, though less so than people without disabilities (41% versus 76% respectively).