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SURVEY: LIFE FOR SOME WITH DISABILITIES IS IMPROVING, SLOWLY

July 28, 2000

WASHINGTON -- Among younger people with disabilities and those with less severe disabilities, the United States appears to be making progress toward more equitable opportunities in education, the workforce and the community, according to the 2000 N.O.D./Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities, published earlier this month by the National Organization on Disability. Releasing the poll for the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the NOD said, "Large numbers of people with disabilities reported that conditions had improved for them during the past four years."

The survey, sponsored by Aetna U.S. Healthcare and The JM Foundation and conducted by Harris and Associates, revealed a mix of encouraging and disheartening data. Harris conducted telephone surveys in late May and early June with 979 people with disabilities and 958 people without, including interviewing 13 percent of the disabled group by proxy because they were not able to respond to a phone survey.

Compared to people without disabilities, less than half as many people with disabilities said they are satisfied with their lives. In addition, the number of people with disabilities who are "very satisfied" has dropped over the past 14 years, from 39 percent in 1986 to 33 percent this year. Harris conducted the same surveys in 1986, 1994 and 1998.

Among the younger generation, however, satisfaction levels are higher. About 44 percent of people with disabilities ages 18 to 29, compared to 57 percent of people without disabilities, say they are "very satisfied with life," while the gap between disabled and nondisabled people of all ages is 34 points.

In 10 more specific measures of quality of life, people with disabilities consistently lagged behind their nondisabled peers. For most of these measures, the more severe the disability, the greater the gap. People with disabilities are three times as likely to live in poverty, twice as likely to live secluded lives that do not involve socializing with friends or neighbors at least once a week and three times as likely to say they lack access to adequate transportation to get around. While 6 percent of the people surveyed without disabilities said they lack adequate healthcare, 19 percent of those with disabilities did.

Education levels and employment rates, two key indicators of economic improvement, are also lower for people with disabilities, but they are both on the rise. This year, 22 percent of the people with disabilities surveyed had not finished high school, compared to 9 percent of people without disabilities. In the 1986 survey, however, only 61 percent of those with disabilities had a high school diploma.

This education gap provides some explanation for similar discrepancies in income and employment level, the Harris report says. "Since education, employment and income are inextricably linked together, it is not surprising that people with disabilities who are more likely to lack a basic education are less likely to be employed and less likely to have high incomes," the report notes.

Employment, viewed by many economists as the most important indicator of economic stability for any American, is still far too low, particularly in the midst of the prolonged economic upswing the United States has seen over the past decade, Harris Chairman Humphrey Taylor said. Of the total population of working-age people with disabilities, only 32 percent work at least part-time, compared to 81 percent of the non-disabled population, the Harris survey says. More than two-thirds of those not employed say they would prefer to be working.

On the up side, among those who say they are able to work despite their disability or other health problems, the employment rate has gone up, from 46 percent in 1986 to 56 percent this year. "The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is undoubtedly responsible for at least part of this progress," the Harris report said.

Between young people ages 18 to 29 with and without disabilities, the employment gap is only 25 percent, and it is getting smaller. "Large numbers of people with disabilities reported that conditions had improved for them during the past four years," the NOD said.

"This reflects intensive efforts by the disability community, employers and community leaders, as well as advances in technology and greater accessibility," NOD President Alan Reich said.

However, the unemployment rate for people with severe disabilities remains dramatically high. Only 19 percent of those who described their own disabilities as "severe" work at least part-time, a 62 percentage point gap between them and people without disabilities.

Despite the discrepancies in various quality of life indicators, perceptions of the current situation for people with disabilities appear to be improving. More than 60 percent of people with disabilities surveyed by Harris said their lives have gotten better in the 10 years since the ADA was enacted.

"Clear majorities feel that overall quality of life, access to public facilities, advertising, media portrayals of people with disabilities and public attitudes toward people with disabilities have gotten better over the past four years," according to the report, and no more than 16 percent said any of those factors has gotten worse. "While it is likely that these improvements stem from a variety of factors such as a strong economy and substantial growth in technology, it is reasonable to attribute at least some of this progress to the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990," the report says.

Reich is among the believers, saying he is "delighted" with the impact the ADA has had. "The ADA, it's clear, is making a fantastic difference," he said. "I'm optimistic about the future."

Awareness of the ADA and its powers and prohibitions may still be so low that, 10 years after its enactment, it has not garnered the support it could from both within and outside the disability community, Humphrey noted. "Giving people rights is necessary, but it's not sufficient if they don't know that they have them and don't demand that they're protected," he said.

"America must do more to release the talents and abilities of our citizens with disabilities who want to work, participate and contribute to the nation," Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) argued at a Capitol Hill event to release the new report. Cleland, a Vietnam Veteran who lost three limbs in combat and uses a wheelchair, called on his Congressional colleagues to continue supporting the ADA's principles.

In addition, Reich argued, people without disabilities must be made more aware of both the power of people with disabilities and the challenges they face. Though he noted empathy comes most quickly from firsthand experience, as was the case with him after breaking his neck in the 1960s, Reich said people without disabilities can and must still be mobilized to help in the cause. "We all, in a sense, live in the antechamber of disability, and we could be there in no time flat," he said.8