Archive:Disability statistics - employment patterns
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This article is part of the set of articles on Disability and its effects on people’s lives. It discusses the typical employment patterns found amongst the working age individuals who have a disability. The findings presented in this article are based on data from the 2011 ad-hoc module of the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS). In addition to the EU-28 Member States, the survey also covered Turkey, Iceland and Switzerland.
This article examines a number of different aspects of employment, such as hours (e.g. part-time work), work at home, level of responsibility, sector (as defined in the NACE Rev. 2 classification) and type of occupation (as defined in ISCO-08). The results presented in this article are based on 2 definitions of disability:
- definition 1: people with disabilities are those who have a basic activity difficulty (such as seeing, hearing, walking, communicating);
- definition 2: people with disabilities are those who are limited in the work they can do because of a longstanding health condition and/or a basic activity difficulty.
Main statistical findings
Over 15 % of employed people with disabilities worked from home in 2011, compared to 13 % of those with no disability
The percentage of the total employed population (with and without disability) that works from home varies considerably between countries, ranging from around 20 % to 30 % in the Nordic countries, Austria, Luxembourg and the UK to below 5 % in some southern and south-eastern European countries. I n the EU as a whole, the proportion of people working from home (usually or sometimes) was higher amongst people with a disability (15 %) than the others (13 %), irrespective of which of the 2 definitions of disability is used (see Table 1). This was true everywhere except Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Slovenia and Slovakia. In Iceland, the difference between the proportion of people with a disability and others (based on the second of the definitions given above) working from home was nearly 5 percentage points. Of the countries listed above, where more people without disabilities than those with disabilities worked from home (i.e. those going against the general trend), Denmark diverged most strongly from the norm; the proportion of people without a disability working from home exceeded the equivalent proportion of people with a disability by the largest margin (whichever definition was used).
Little difference in the level of supervisory responsibility of people with or without basic activities difficulties
At EU level, the difference in the level of supervisory responsibility of people with and without a disability (see definition 1), is not statistically significant (21.1 % against 22.5 %) (see Figure 1). At country level, however, more noticeable differences were found:
- In the Czech Republic, Latvia, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the proportion of people with a basic activity difficulty who hold a position with supervisory responsibility was between 5 and 6 percentage points lower than among people with no such difficulties.
- In Austria, on the other hand, a higher proportion of people with basic activity difficulties than those without such difficulties had supervisory responsibility (26.6 % compared to 25.1 %).
- Iceland has a particularly high proportion of people exercising supervisory responsibilities (40% of the total population surveyed, i.e. with or without basic activity difficulties).
- Romania and Slovakia formed a striking contrast to this; only around 10 % of the employed population performed this type of role.
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]]