nTIDE January 2023 Jobs Report: More people with disabilities are striving to work. Will employers call upon them?
National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) – Issued semi-monthly by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire
Reports and ProceedingsIMAGE: THIS GRAPHIC COMPARES THE LABOR MARKET INDICATORS FOR DECEMBER 2022 AND JANUARY 2023, SHOWING AN INCREASE IN THE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, A SLIGHT DECLINE FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT DISABILITIES, AND DECLINES IN THE EMPLOYMENT-TO-POPULATION RATIOS FOR BOTH GROUPS. view more
CREDIT: KESSLER FOUNDATION
East Hanover, NJ – February 3, 2023 – More jobseekers with disabilities entered the labor market in January, providing a potential resource for the current boom in job openings, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Declines in the employment-to-population ratios for people with and without disabilities may reflect the impact of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curtail inflation and/or seasonal effects.
Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing December 2022 to January 2023)
Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released today, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities (ages 16-64) increased from 39.0 percent in December 2022 to 39.6 percent in January 2023 (up 1.5 percent or 0.6 percentage points). For people without disabilities (ages 16-64), the labor force participation rate decreased slightly from 76.9 percent in December 2022 to 76.8 percent in January 2023 (down 0.1 percent or 0.1 percentage points).
“More people with disabilities are striving to work, as indicated by January’s rise in their labor force participation rate. Also, the news is filled with reports that employers have dramatically increased the number of available jobs,” remarked Andrew Houtenville, PhD, professor of economics and research director of the UNH-IOD. “Next month, we will see whether these trends lead to increased employment for people with disabilities,” he added.
January 2023 saw declines in employment-to-population rates. For people with disabilities (ages 16-64) the employment-to-population ratio decreased from 37.0 percent in December 2022 to 36.7 percent in January 2023 (down 0.8 percent or 0.3 percentage points). Similarly, the employment-to-population ratio of people without disabilities (ages 16-64) decreased from 74.4 percent in December 2022 to 73.9 percent in January 2023 (down 0.7 percent or 0.5 percentage points). The employment-to-population ratio, a key indicator, reflects the percentage of people who are working relative to the total population (the number of people working divided by the number of people in the total population multiplied by 100).
“Contrary to the upward trends seen in the past few months, the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities fell in January,” said John O’Neill, PhD, director of the Center for Employment and Disability Research at Kessler Foundation. “Considering that this downward trend was also true for people without disabilities, we may be seeing the impact of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation by slowing economic growth and/or a decline in seasonal employment,” he noted.
Year-to-Year nTIDE Numbers (Comparing January 2022 to January 2023)
The employment-to-population ratio for working-age people with disabilities increased from 33.8 percent in January 2022 to 36.7 percent in January 2023 (up 8.6 percent or 2.9 percentage points). For working-age people without disabilities, the employment-to-population ratio also increased from 73.1 percent in January 2022 to 73.9 percent in January 2023 (up 1.1 percent or 0.8 percentage points).
Similarly, for people with disabilities (16-64), the labor force participation rate increased from 37.5 percent in January 2022 to 39.6 percent in January 2023 (up 5.6 percent or 2.1 percentage points). For people without disabilities (ages 16-64), the labor force participation rate also increased from 76.4 percent in January 2022 to 76.8 percent in January 2023 (up 0.5 percent or 0.4 percentage points).
This graphic compares the labor market indicators for January 2022 and January 2023, showing increases for people with and without disabilities.
Kessler Foundation
In January 2023 among workers ages 16-64, the 5,939,000 workers with disabilities represented 4.0 percent of the total 148,027,000 workers in the U.S.
Ask Questions about Disability and Employment
Each nTIDE release is followed by an nTIDE Lunch & Learn online webinar. This live broadcast, hosted via Zoom Webinar, offers attendees Q&A on the latest nTIDE findings, provides news and updates from the field, and features invited panelists who discuss current disability-related findings and events. On February 3, 2023, at 12:00 pm Eastern, Jennifer Mathis, JD, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, joins Drs. O’Neill and Houtenville, and Denise Rozell, Policy Strategist at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). Join our Lunch & Learns live or visit the nTIDE archives at: ResearchonDisability.org/nTIDE.
NOTE: The statistics in the nTIDE are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers but are not identical. They are customized by UNH to combine the statistics for men and women of working age (16 to 64). nTIDE is funded, in part, by grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (90RT5037) and Kessler Foundation.
About the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire
The Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) was established in 1987 to provide a university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. For information on the NIDILRR-funded Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics, visit ResearchOnDisability.org.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes – including employment – for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
ICYMI: Kessler Foundation’s latest employment survey compares the workplaces of 2017 and 2022, revealing gains in recruiting, hiring, accommodating, and retaining employees with disabilities. Learn more: 2022 National Employment & Disability Survey: Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Supervisor Perspectives.
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To interview an expert, contact:
Deborah Hauss, DHauss@kesslerfoundation.org;
Carolann Murphy, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org.
Graphics:
Title: nTIDE Month-to-Month Comparison of Labor Market Indicators for People with and without Disabilities
Caption: This graphic compares the labor market indicators for December 2022 and January 2023, showing an increase in the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities, a slight decline for people without disabilities, and declines in the employment-to-population ratios for both groups.
Title: nTIDE Year-to-Year Comparison of Labor Market Indicators for People with and without Disabilities
Caption: This graphic compares the labor market indicators for January 2022 and January 2023, showing increases for people with and without disabilities.
Dramatic improvement in the prevalence of disabilities among older Americans since 2008
If the prevalence of disabilities had remained at 2008 levels, an additional 1.27 million older Americans would have had difficulties bathing or dressing and an additional 1.89 million would have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs by 2017
Peer-Reviewed PublicationThe prevalence of disabilities among American adults aged 65 and older is much lower than it was for the same age group a decade earlier, according to a nationally representative study published online in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) .
The decline in disability among older Americans was substantial. The odds of experiencing limitations in activities of daily living (such as dressing or bathing) and the odds of experiencing functional limitations (such as serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs) declining 18% and 13%, respectively, between 2008 and 2017.
In 2008, 12.1% of older Americans reported limitations in activities of daily living. In 2017, this percentage had declined to 9.6%. To put this into perspective, if the prevalence of limitations in daily living remained at the 2008 levels, an additional 1.27 million older Americans would have ADL limitations in 2017.
Similarly, the percentage of functional limitations among those 65 and older declined from 27.3% in 2008 to 23.5% in 2017. As a result, 1.89 million fewer older adults experienced functional limitations on their quality of life.
“The dramatic improvement in the prevalence of older Americans experiencing disabilities has important implications for our communities,” says first author Esme Fuller-Thomson, director of the University of Toronto's Institute for Life Course & Aging and professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) and the Department of Family & Community Medicine. “This decline in the prevalence of disabilities has a wide range of benefits for older adults, their families and caregivers, and the health care system at large.”
The improvements in disabilities among older adults was greater for women than for men. After adjusting for age and race, women’s odds of experiencing limitations in activities of daily living decreased by 20%. vs 13% for men. The odds of women experiencing functional limitations decreased 16% compared to only an 8% decrease among men.
“While it is unclear why these gender differences exist, previous research suggest that women are more likely than men to have annual check-ups and adopt preventative care practices, and this may contribute to this gender gap,” says co-author Jason Ferreirinha a recent Master of Social Work graduate from University of Toronto’s FIFSW.
Further analyses showed a relationship between some of the observed improvements in disabilities across the decade and the proportion of high school and university graduates among the post-World War II birth cohorts.
“Higher educational attainment increases health literacy and health promoting behaviours,” says co-author Katherine Ahlin, a recent graduate from the MSW program at the University of Toronto’s FIFSW. “One’s education levels also impact job type, which affects cardiovascular risk factors. And the lower one’s cardiovascular risk factors, the lower one’s levels of disability later in life.”
Other factors may be at play that warrant future research say the researchers. “Other possible contributors to this positive trend could include decreases in smoking, decreasing levels of air pollutants and the phase out of leaded gasoline in the 1970s,” says Fuller-Thomson.
The study is based on an analysis of 10 consecutive cross-sectional waves of the American Community Survey (2008-2017), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of both community dwelling and institutionalized older adults. Approximately half a million older adults were included in each year of data collection, resulting in a final sample size of 5.4 million American respondents aged 65 and older.
Interestingly, the study found a more modest decline in disability among those in the Baby Boomer generation compared to older cohorts. The authors suggested that higher rates in obesity among Baby Boomers compared to their older counterparts may be playing a role in a slower decline.
“Our findings from this study indicate a steep decline in the prevalence of disability among older Americans,” said Ferreirinha. “Further investigation will be needed to explore if these positive trends will continue in coming decades as the Baby Boom population ages into their 80s.”
JOURNAL
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Meta-analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Temporal Trends (from 2008 to 2017) in Functional Limitations and Limitations in Activities of Daily Living: Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample of 5.4 Million Older Americans
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
2-Feb-2023
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