Truman Scholarship Candidate

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") has proven unsuccessful in its goal of empowering people with disabilities to enter the workforce. Although 19.4% of the population have some disability,1 they constitute only 4.3% of the workforce.2 The group's unemployment rate stands at almost 17%, nearly three times the national average.3 A survey for the National Organization on Disabilities found that current levels of employment of people with disabilities between the ages of 16 and 64 have actually dropped two percentage points since 1986, four years before the civil rights legislation was passed.4 The Social Security Administration has additionally reported a decline since 1990 in the percentage of disabled Americans who are working while receiving Supplemental Security Income ("SSI").5

Several factors account for these high levels of unemployment. Health insurance is perhaps the most significant. Disabled people receiving SSI or Social Security Disability Income ("SSDI") lose their federal health insurance if they earn more than $500 per month in income for nine months, a powerful incentive not to work.6 In turn, employers are wary of hiring people with disabilities for fear of driving up insurance premiums for their businesses.

Secondly, a further disincentive to work exists in wages, where recipients of SSI or SSDI often earn more by not working. This is particularly true among the severely disabled, where most work available will pay only slightly more than minimum wage.7

Thirdly, ADA has yet to be properly enforced. Eight federal agencies are currently involved in the investigation of varied complaints,8 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") lags ten months in its investigations of complaints.9 A visually impaired job hunter wrote in the New York Times that when he tried to file a complaint with EEOC, "I was told that my complaint would be kept on record and if a number of such complaints for the same employer accumulated, 'action would be taken.’"10

An additional factor in the high levels of unemployment among people with disabilities is business's lack of knowledge about ADA and the cost of meeting its provisions. Most disabled workers do not need any special accommodations,11 and only 22% of accommodations cost more than $1000. Sixty-seven percent of accommodations cost $500 or less.12 Furthermore, making new construction fully accessible increases costs by no more than one percent.13

Finally, employer prejudice and stereotypes about the disabled affect their employment. Myths persist that those with disabilities have lower attendance rates and safety records and are less capable of performing their jobs than their nondisabled counterparts, although studies have shown that disabled employees achieve similar levels of excellence in each of these categories.