| The presence of a disability is widely
known to affect both earnings and worklife expectancy, regardless of the
definition of disability used. Nonforensic researchers have used data
from various studies to measure the effect of
disability on employment. Even
those studies using definitions that are not specific to work disability
have found that disability negatively impacts employment and earnings.
Kaye (1998) summarized findings from various surveys, including
the CPS, SIPP, NHIS, and Harris Survey, and noted the existence of an earnings and employment discrepancy
between people with and without disability.
Burkhauser
and Daly (1998), using the Panel
Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), also found an earnings discrepancy between those with
and without disability.
McCollister and Pflaum
(2004), using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS),
found a worklife drop for those with back pain and noted that this
discrepancy increases with age.
Pflaum, et al. (2003)
also found a drop in employment for those with a spinal cord injury and
noted that the more severe injury, the lower the probability of finding and
maintaining employment.
Trupin
and Yelin (1999) used data from the California Work and Health
Survey, which defined disability as existing in those with physical functional
limitation. They found that
people with disability had a lower labor force participation rate, were more likely unemployed, and more likely to be employed in part-time or temporary jobs.
DeLeire
(2000) used the SIPP and found that people with a disability work less and earn
less than people with no disability.
Also, in the few years following passage of the ADA, men with disability were less
likely to be employed relative to men with no disability than they had
been in the few years prior to passage of the ADA.
In the few years prior to the ADA, men with disability had
employment rates that were 63% as high as the rate for men without disability.
In the few years after the ADA, this rate dropped to 53% (DeLeire,
2000). McNeil
(2001) used SIPP data
collected in 1997 and again found reduced employment and earnings for
persons with both severe and nonsevere disability. |
