4(336) 2018 [157] Analysis of the Labor Market Situation of People with Disabilities (original) (raw)
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Analysis of the Labor Market Situation of People with Disabilities
Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Oeconomica
People with disabilities belong to a social group at risk of poverty. In their daily lives, they face prejudice and obstacles in the labor market. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and assess the labor market situation of people with disabilities which, according to data analysis, is much more difficult than that of persons without disabilities. In 2010–2016, the activity rate of disabled people was, on average, by 39 percentage points lower compared to the total population. The disadvantageous situation of disabled people is impacted by frequent amendments to legal regulations. Over recent years, the changes in the area of subsidized employment have contributed to an increase in employment of disabled people in the open labor market, accompanied by a decrease in employment figures in sheltered workshops.
Labour Market for People with Disabilities
2018
People with disabilities are generally considered as incapacitated in the workforce, so they often experience exclusion to participate in employment opportunities. Yet work is a crucial issue in the lives of people with disability to survive, construct self-identity, and gain social recognition. However, to obtain the employment, people with disabilities experience various barriers, such as discrimination in the workplace, stigma, prejudice, and community stereotypes. This paper discusses how to create a labour market for people with disabilities, whether exclusion or inclusion. In line with the aims of the study, literature studies are used to reviews published research findings about labour market for people with disabilities. The results show that the current quota system for employing people disability in the formal sector is insufficient to realize an inclusive labour market. Therefore, the appropriate labour market for people with disabilities is the inclusion that meets the f...
WorkAbility- Project financed by the countries of the European Economic Area –EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) in the frame of the Programme “Diversity, Inequalities and Social Inclusion” and by the Greek National Programme of Public Investments, 2016
In the article 27 of the Convection of the Rights of Disabled People there is a particular reference to issues regarding work and employment. In this, States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others. This includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. Furthermore, States Parties commit themselves to safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation, to: 1. The prohibition of discrimination in relation to disability will be recognized in all forms of employment and job search. 2. The protection of the rights of people with disabilities in relation to equal opportunities and working conditions, such as protection against disturbance. 3. Ensuring a common base of exercise labour and trade union rights for people with disabilities. 4. Enabling people with disabilities in their access to and participation in education training and vocational education. 5. The promotion of employment opportunities and job prospects for people with disabilities and their support in finding and keeping a job. 6. Promoting partnerships for entrepreneurship, as well as self- employment and entrepreneurship more widely. 7. Creating jobs in the public sector. 8. Support the employment of people with disabilities in the private sector and the provision of appropriate adjustments. 9. Obtaining work experience of persons with disabilities. 10. Securing and maintaining employment, as well as the return to work for people with disabilities. It is also stated that the States Parties should protect people with disability from poor working conditions, forced work, slavery and servitude. However, the reality disabled persons face leaves a lot to be desired. In disability theory, and specifically in Barnes C. (2003), it is supported that industrialization, urbanisation, and ideologies such as liberal utilitarianism, Identification of obstacles in persons’ with disability employment Page 6 Social Darwinism, and Eugenics, provided a ‘scientific’ proof to myths and prejudices for disabled people. Work is associated with wage labour and paid employment and it becomes tailored to the needs of those who are considered to be 'capable' of this type of activity. Consequently, people who did not fit in those standards were thought to be incapable to work, excluded from the workplace and labelled as “disabled”. This misconception remains up to date, leading to reduced employment opportunities for disabled people. The Employment Analysis and Policy Division and the Social Policy Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched a report on 2010 called “Sickness, Disability and Work”, following the one of 2003 “Transforming Disability into Ability”. In this report it is clearly stated that people with disability face more disadvantages in labour market than people without disabilities. The employment rate at 44%, was over half that for persons without disability (75%). The inactivity rate of persons with disability was about 2.5 times higher than the rate among persons without disability (49% and 20%, respectively). Furthermore, it is mentioned that many changes have been done regarding disability policies in many countries during the last decade, however those have not kept pace with changes in policy development and further actions should be made. It is also acknowledged that the inclusion of disabled people in the OECD countries was difficult even before the onset of the global economic crisis, when economic growth was rather strong in many OECD countries and employment rose quite significantly. All the above lead to the conclusion that discrimination against disabled people has very strong roots in western society and disabled people face barriers in various aspects of everyday living and social participation. Disability studies and social model of disability theorists support that the exclusion disabled people face should be addressed in a broader context of barriers. Barriers to employment are closely related to barriers to transportation, built environment, citizenship, education and culture, and not only to the way the labour market is organized. According to the World Health Organization report on Disability (WHO,2011) people with disabilities face various barriers to their participation in all aspects of life, which include: - Inadequate policies and standards. Existing policies, standards and policy design do not always take into account the needs of people with disabilities. - Negative attitudes. Beliefs, prejudices, misconceptions create barriers to participation in education, employment, health care etc. For example, there are misconceptions that people with disabilities are less productive than their non-disabled counterparts. - Lack of provision of services. - Problems with service delivery. World Health Survey data from 51 countries showed that people with disabilities were more than twice as likely to report inadequate skills of health care provider skills, four times more likely to be treated badly and nearly three times more likely to be denied needed health care. - Inadequate funding of disability policies and plans. - Lack of accessibility in built environments, in transport systems and information communication technology. - Lack of consultation and involvement of people with disabilities in decision-making matters that affect their lives. - Lack of data and evidence, which prevent the understanding of the number of people with disabilities and their circumstances that can help in removing disabling barriers. There are also barriers imposed by the potential employers themselves. In a study conducted by Kaye, Jans and Jones (Kaye, Jans and Jones, 2011), 432 potential employers took place, listing potential reasons as to why employers may not hire persons with disability, and potential reasons as to why employers may not retain employees with disability. For the first question, the top three reasons refer to the cost of accommodations, lack of awareness as to how to deal with workers with disabilities, and fear of being stuck with a worker who cannot be disciplined or fired due to legislation obligations. The next tier of reasons are difficulty assessing an applicant’s ability to perform job tasks, concerns over extra supervisory time, other cost worries, concern that the person with the disability won’t perform as well as non-disabled workers, and lack of job applicants with disabilities. More than half of respondents agreed that employers didn’t hire workers with disabilities because they feel that workers with disabilities cannot perform essential job functions, and that employers discriminate against applicants with disabilities. Proposed reasons for not retaining workers with disabilities include lack of awareness as to how to handle the worker’s needs; concern that workers acquiring disabilities will become liabilities, whether legal or financial; and concern over the cost of accommodations. Next follow concerns over job performance, other costs, difficulty assessing whether the worker can do the job, and belief that the person cannot do the job. Only one additional reason, a belief that workers developing disabilities become less dependable (as opposed to less dedicated), was endorsed by more than half of the respondents. Contradicting with the above, in the WHO report on Disability there is also a reference to the advantages of the employment of people with disabilities in regard to labour market. These are documented as: 1. Maximizing human resources. 2. Promoting human dignity and social cohesion. 3. Accommodating the increasing numbers of people with disabilities in the working age population. So, employment of disabled persons increases individual well-being and has personal and social advantages. Adding to the above, it should also be mentioned that life expectancy has increased over the years, leading to an increase in the prevalence of disability and the rise of chronic conditions. This shows that there are much better health conditions and medical rehabilitation over the years and it is estimated that the number of people over the age of 60 is predicted to rise over the next few decades. Following to this, there is an increased need for working population, as the social security systems will continue to need extra funding. People with disabilities are a large part of work population which is unexploited. So the engagement of this population can contribute to the national output. Identification of obstacles in persons’ with disability employment Page 9 In this deliverable the barriers that disabled persons face in employment are recognised, including prejudices and stereotypes, barriers to education, accessibility barriers as well as inadequate policies and practices.
Unemployment - Nature, Challenges and Policy Responses [Working Title]
Global data indicate people with disabilities have disproportionately high unemployment and underemployment rates, often earn less than those without disabilities, and face barriers to education that further impede access to high-paying jobs. Some of the challenges to social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities include inaccessible physical environments; lack of access to transportation, assistive technology, and high-quality service delivery; communication barriers; discrimination; and stigma within society and the workforce. This chapter provides a clear understanding of the persistent issue of unemployment and underemployment of people with disabilities and identifies multiple benefits related to employing individuals with disabilities. Implications for policy and practice to address challenges and barriers to employment and societal inclusion of people with disabilities are presented as a starting point for facilitating global economic growth and stability by tappi...
Employment Of People With Disabilities In Romania
International Archives of Medicine, 2016
Background: Promoting optimal social integration of people with disabilities, as active citizens, represents a major objective of Romanian health, social and political strategies. Methods: This paper represents a selective review of the statistic official information, published in 2015, by the National Authority for People with Disabilities (NAPD) and Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Assistance and Elderly (MLFSPEP). It represents an integrative approach, regarding the legislative and socioeconomic framework, concerning the social protection, integration and employment of disabled people in Romania. Results: The total number of disabled people was 759,019 (3.41% of Romanian population). About 415,852 (54.8%) were aged between 18 and 64. Rate of employment of disabled persons is still very small (14%). People with somatic disability represent the most employed category (38.4%); least employed were the mental (3.1%) and psychiatric (5.2%) categories. About 722 authorized protected units (sheltered employment) were recorded in 2015. Discussion: A terminology clarification and unification approach, at national level (between concepts of disability vs. handicap), has become a necessity. Romanian legal frame regarding labour policy and working with disabilities imposes material obligations for employers (the 4% quota system) but also offers fiscal facilities for them. Disabled persons (with accentuated and severe disability/handicap) are exempt from income tax and complementary cumulate the non-taxable income and disability benefits. Conclusion: This is an integrative approach to the Romanian strategy and policy of (re-) employment of people with disabilities. It underlines the main achievements, improvements and limitations in the
Investigating Needs and Barriers to the Employment of People with Disabilities Panagiotis Tsalis
2018
The principal aim of the WorkAbility project was to apply a holistic approach concerning underemployment and unemployment in the case of people with disabilities in Greece. A questionnaire survey was undertaken in the framework of WorkAbility to investigate the employment status of people with disabilities in the Region of Central Macedonia. A total of 306 persons with disabilities participated in the survey, of which 101 persons were deaf or hard-of-hearing, 100 persons vision-impaired and 105 persons were hemiplegics, paraplegics or tetraplegics. A statistical analysis of data collected was performed and interesting results have been drawn for the total sample as a whole and for each disability group separately. A set of different variables has been examined and the statistical significance between them has been also determined. Survey results are available online and can be exploited towards the establishment of accessible employment and entrepreneurship in Greece. JEL Classifica...
The principal aim of the WorkAbility project was to apply a holistic approach concerning underemployment and unemployment in the case of people with disabilities in Greece. A questionnaire survey was undertaken in the framework of WorkAbility to investigate the employment status of people with disabilities in the Region of Central Macedonia. A total of 306 persons with disabilities participated in the survey, of which 101 persons were deaf or hard-of-hearing, 100 persons vision-impaired and 105 persons were hemiplegics, paraplegics or tetraplegics. A statistical analysis of data collected was performed and interesting results have been drawn for the total sample as a whole and for each disability group separately. A set of different variables has been examined and the statistical significance between them has been also determined. Survey results are available online and can be exploited towards the establishment of accessible employment and entrepreneurship in Greece.
1983
Preliminary remarks .-1.1-Military and civilian war victims 1.2-Workers covered by the social security scheme ; 1.3-Victims of accidents at work and occupational diseases. 1.4-Social rehabilitation of the disabled 2-BASIC DATA 2.1-Total population of Belgium 2.2-Trends in the working population and unemployment rate 3-ESTIMATES OF THE NUMBER OF HANDICAPPED PERSONS. . 19 3.1-Census of physically handicapped persons 19 3.2-Comparison of the number of applications for assistance and the total population 20 7.4-Education, training and vocational retraining ... 29 7.4.1-Training contract in vocational training centres for the disabled 30 7.4.2-Special apprenticeship contract 30 7.4.3-Treatment of academic education as vocational training 30-10-8-PLACEMENT OF DISABLED PERSONS 31 8.1-Financial assistance with remuneration and social contributions 31 8.2-Placement of disabled persons 8.3-Placement in sheltered workshops of unemployed persons who are 'difficult to place' 9-'UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG DISABLED PERSONS 9.1-Long-term unemployment 9.2-Monthly averages for persons seeking employment 9.3-Trends in the number of persons seeking employment 9.4-Trends in applications for jobs from disabled persons-10-8-PLACEMENT OF DISABLED PERSONS 31 8.1-Financial assistance with remuneration and social contributions 31 8.2-Placement of disabled persons 31 8.3-Placement in sheltered workshops of unemployed persons who are 'difficult to place' 9-'UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG DISABLED PERSONS 9.1-Long-term unemployment 9.2-Monthly averages for persons seeking employment 9.3-Trends in the number of persons seeking employment 9.4-Trends in applications for jobs from disabled persons-11 1-LEGISLATION Sources: Part 1, Legislation, was drawn up in cooperation with Ms Jacqueline Brand and Mr Léon Laureys of the Office National de l'Emploi (National Employment Office) under the Ministère de l'Emploi et du Travail (Ministry of Employment and La¬ bour) in Brussels. The final text was revised by Mr A. Maron, administrative head of the 'Fonds National de Reclassement Social des Handicapés' or FNRSH (National Fund for the Social Rehabilitation of Handicapped Persons).