Archive:Disability statistics - employment patterns
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This article is part of the set of articles on Disability that provides information on the employment characteristics of the working age individuals that have a disability, based on the data of the 2011 ad-hoc module (AHM) of the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS). Apart from information on the EU-28 and its individual Member States, data for Turkey, Iceland and Switzerland are also covered.
Different aspects linked to employment are addressed, such as part-time work, work at home, supervisory responsibility, the economic activity (according to the NACE Rev. 2 classification) and the type of occupation (ISCO-08). Results presented in this article have been compiled according to two definitions of disability, as follows:
- Definition 1: Persons having a basic activity difficulty (such as seeing, hearing, walking, communicating);
- Definition 2: Persons limited in their work activity because of a longstanding health problem and/or a basic activity difficulty (LHPAD).
Main statistical findings
More than 15% of employed disabled persons worked from home in 2011, against 13% for those without any disability
In general, the percentage of people working at home (having disabilities or not) varies considerably across countries, ranging from 20% to 30% in the nordic countries, Austria, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom to values below 5% in some southern and south-eastern European countries.
As for disabled people and whatever the disability definition used, the proportion of people working at home (usually or sometimes) was higher in the EU-28 for the persons reporting a disability (15%) than for those without disabilities (13%) (see Table 1). This situation prevailed in all countries except for Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Slovenia and Slovakia. Moreover, in Iceland, the difference was close to 5 percentage points when considering the 2nd definition, favouring the persons having a work limitation due to LHPAD. On the other side of the spectrum, Denmark reported the highest difference between the two populations with less people working at home among the group reporting difficulties compared to the group without difficulties (whatever the definition considered).
Persons having supervisor responsibilities: little difference among persons with or without basic activities difficulties
Regarding persons having supervisory responsibilities, the difference observed between persons with and without basic activities difficulties is not significant at the level of the EU-28 (21.1% against 22.5%) (see Figure 1). At country level, more noticeable differences were found (between 5 and 6 percentage points higher for persons without basic activities difficulties) in the Czech Republic, Latvia, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Conversely, in Austria, more persons with basic activity difficulties had supervisory activities (26.6%) than persons without these difficulties (25.1%). Quite noticeable is the proportion of persons with supervisor responsibilities in Iceland: 4 out of 10 persons surveyed (with or without basic activity difficulties) declared having such a job profile, a sharp contrast to the situation in Romania and Slovakia (around 10% of the employed population).
As regards the second definition, denoting persons with a limitation in work caused by a LHPAD, the difference is more pronounced (4 percentage points at EU level). With more than 8 percentage points difference, the biggest variations between both groups regarding persons with supervisory responsibilities were observed for Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta and Luxembourg. In Estonia, Greece and Iceland, the proportion of persons with supervisor responsibilities was actually higher among the group with limitations in work activities compared to those without limitations.
Disabled people are more likely to work part time
Persons reporting a basic activity difficulty were more likely to have a part-time employment at EU-28 level (see Figure 2): 26% vs. only 18% for persons without difficulties. A similar picture was observed across countries, the exception being Austria where both sub-groups recorded the same rate (23% each). The Netherlands, a country where part-time employment is particularly widespread, recorded the highest proportion of part-time employment, whatever definition of disability considered (61% for persons with a basic activity difficulty; 47% for the group of persons without difficulties). At the other side of the scale, Greece had a proportion below 8% for both aforementioned groups. It can also be noticed that for the Czech Republic (14%), Hungary (26%) and Slovakia (13%), the share of part-time employment among persons with a basic activity difficulty was 3 to 5 times higher compared to the group of persons without disabilities.
In the EU-28, the proportion of part-time employment in the disabled population was higher according to the second definition of disability (33%) than with the first definition (26%). At national level, the proportion of part-timers ranged from 8% in Greece to 67% in the Netherlands for persons reporting a work limitation caused by a LHPAD. For the group without a work limitation, only the Netherlands registered a rate over 40%. The lowest rates were observed in Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with less than 5%.
More than half persons with basic activity difficulties were skilled manual workers in Croatia and Romania
The proportion of skilled manual workers among employed persons aged 15-64 varied significantly across countries, particularly for disabled people (see Figure 3). In a majority of countries the proportion of skilled manual workers was largely similar (less than 3-4 percentage points difference) between employed persons with and without disabilities, whatever the definition considered. However the gap exceeded 10 percentage points for people with basic activity difficulties in Greece (14 pp) and Croatia (21pp) and for people with work limitation in 6 countries (Austria, Lithuania, Poland and Romania in addition to the two countries already listed). Iceland was the only country where the proportion of skilled manual workers among the population without a disability was superior to the one among disabled population.
For both definitions 1 and 2, the highest proportion of skilled manual workers were found in Romania (resp. 54% and 62%). Croatia (resp. 52% and 60%) Greece (resp. 43% and 51%), and Poland (resp. 46% and 48%).
Employment in agriculture over-represented among persons with disabilities
At the EU-28 level , for both disabled and not disabled employed persons, the sector of services employed about 7 out of 10 persons; industry and construction sector counted for more than 23% while agriculture, forestry and fishing counted for less than 8% (data not shown). However the sector of agriculture, forestry and fishing has a much more significant share in Croatia and Greece (about 11%), in Poland (about 12%), in Romania (more than 24%) and in Turkey (about 20%) for the employment of persons without disabilities, but even more for persons having limitations in work caused by a LHPAD. This was particularly the case for Greece (27%), Croatia (39%), Poland (28%), Romania (54%) and Turkey (44%).
Data sources and availability
The main data source used for this publication is the European Labour Force Survey. It is a quarterly, large sample survey providing results for the population in private households in the EU, EFTA and the candidate countries.
The LFS included an ad-hoc module on employment of disabled people in 2002 and 2011. The aim of the 2011 module was to provide information on the situation of disabled people on the labour market as compared to those without disabilities.
Concepts and definitions
Two main concepts of disability are used in this article:
- Longstanding health problems or diseases: longstanding is to be understood as a health problem that has lasted or is likely to last for at least 6 months. The main characteristic of a longstanding problem is that it is permanent and may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation or care.
- Basic activity difficulty: an activity is defined as the performance of a task or action by an individual and thus basic activity difficulties are defined as difficulties in performing a basic activity (such as seeing, hearing, lifting, bending, etc) by the respondent. The length of difficulty must have lasted or be expected to last for six months or more.
Context
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes in Article 27 “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”. This includes prohibition of discrimination, protection of rights, access to education, employment in the public and private sector, possibilities for self-employment and support in order to maintain employment on equal terms with others.
The national reports on the employment of disabled people in European countries provide evidence of widespread initiatives in policy and legislation in recent years. These include, for example, the right to an interview (e.g. in Poland and Denmark), assistance in adaptation of the workplace, employer incentives/subsidies, rights to flexible working, job matching, personal assistance at work, support for self-employment, etc. Although many initiatives have been taken, and more focus has been given to the integration of disabled people, more can be done. There is thus still a need for more knowledge, and more co-ordination in the area. Indeed, there is a relative lack of information about the types of jobs and sectors that disabled people are employed in, not least because many disabled people employed in the ordinary labour market are not recognised or measured in reported figures, e.g. because they are not recorded as having work limitations or receiving specific support services.
See also
Online publications
- Disability statistics
- EU labour force survey statistics
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Statistical analysis and publication of the results of the 2011 Labour Force Survey ad hoc module on employment of disabled people
Database
- [1], see:
- Access to labour market for disabled people (Source LFS) (hlth_dsb_lm)
Dedicated section
Methodology / Metadata
- Prevalence of disability (source LFS) (hlth_dsb_prv)
- Background articles in Statistics Explained
Other information
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 317/2010 of 16 April 2010 adopting the specifications of the 2011 ad hoc module on employment of disabled people for the labour force sample survey provided for by Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98
External links
- European Disability Strategy 2010-2020
- The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
[[Category:<Employment>|Disability statistics - employment patterns]][[Category:<Health>|Disability statistics - employment patterns]][[Category:<Labour market>|Disability statistics - employment patterns]] [[Category:<Population>|Disability statistics - employment patterns]] [[Category:<Statistical article>|Disability statistics - employment patterns]]