Census Bureau Facts for Features A product of the U.S. Census Bureau's Public Information Office CB99-FF.13 September 20, 1999 Disability Employment Awareness Month: October 1-31 All data pertain to the October 1994-January 1995 period. Population Distribution - About 54 million Americans -- approximately 1 in 5 -- reported that they had some kind of disability and 26 million of them -- 1 in 10 -- said they had a severe disability.* - The likelihood of having a disability increases with age -- consequently, 1 in 2 seniors 65 years old and older had a disability. Nevertheless, even among adults ages 22 to 44, about 1 in 7 had some type of disability. - More than half the Americans with a severe disability were between ages 22 and 64. - Among persons age 6 and older, 1.8 million used a wheelchair, 1.6 million were unable to see and 1.0 million were unable to hear. Work and Disability - In the prime employable years of 21 to 64, 82 percent of Americans without a disability had a job or business compared with 77 percent of those with a nonsevere disability and 26 percent of those with a severe disability. The latter represents a gain since 1991 when the employment rate of people with a severe disability was 23 percent. - Among people 21 to 64 years old, the likelihood of being employed varied by type of disability. For instance, 64 percent of those who had difficulty hearing were employed compared with 44 percent who had trouble seeing, 41 percent with a mental disability, 34 percent who had difficulty walking and 26 percent who used a wheelchair or were long-term users of a cane, crutches or a walker. The employment rates among people who had trouble seeing and who had a mental disability were not significantly different from one another. - Of all employed persons ages 21 to 64, 10 percent had a nonsevere disability and another 3 percent had a severe disability. - The presence of a disability tends to be associated with lower earnings. Among men 21 to 64 years of age, median monthly earnings were $2,190 for those with no disability, $1,857 for those with a nonsevere disability and $1,262 for those with a severe disability. Comparable figures for women were $1,470, $1,200 and $1,000. (The monthly earnings of women with a nonsevere disability were not statistically different from those of men with a severe disability). The Need for Personal Assistance - About 9 million people age 15 and over had disabilities so severe that they required personal assistance to carry out everyday activities; slightly more than 4 million of these persons were under age 65. About 80 percent of the people who took on the role of primary helper were relatives and nearly half of these primary helpers lived with the disabled person. Further information on this subject is available on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability.html. * A person is considered to have a disability if he or she has difficulty performing certain functions (seeing, hearing, talking, walking, climbing stairs and lifting and carrying), or has difficulty performing activities of daily living (such as bathing, dressing or going outside the home) or has difficulty with certain social roles (doing school work for children, working at a job and around the house for adults). A person who is unable to perform one or more functions or who uses an assistive device to get around or who needs assistance from another person to perform basic activities is considered to have a severe disability. ______________________________________________________________________________ The preceding facts come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. The data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Previous 1999 Facts for Features: African American History Month (February), Valentine's Day (February 14), Women's History Month (March), Countdown to Census 2000 (April 1), Secretaries' Day (Apr. 21), Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (May), Mother's Day (May 9), Father's Day (June 20), the Fourth of July, Back to School (August), Grandparents Day (September 12) and Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15- October 15). Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office (Tel: 301-457-3030; Fax: 301-457-3670; E-mail: pio@census.gov).
