April News - US Census: More Disabled Americans are Working
By Genaro C Armas

WASHINGTON (AP) --Half the adult Americans with disabilities have jobs,
and
the employed typically earn less than the average American, new Census
Bureau estimates show.  The disparity is worse among those people whose
disabilities are considered "severe," according to the Census Bureau
report.

The results show that more needs to be done by the federal government
and
the private sector for people with disabilities who actively seek work
to
become more accepted in the workplace, said Olivia Raynor, director of
the
National Arts and Disabilities Center at the University of California,
Los
Angeles.

Overall, 20 percent of Americans in 1997, or 52.6 million people, said
they
had disabilities.  Of that total, 33 million said their disability was
severe.  The data, based on a survey separate from the 2000 census, were

the latest available.

Of the 27.8 million people age 21 to 64 with disabilities, half worked
in
1997, with average earnings of $23,373 per year, the report said.  Of
those
with severe disabilities in the same age category, 31 percent had a job,

with average earnings of $18,631 per year.  By comparison, 78 percent of

all Americans age 21 to 64 worked, averaging $30,155 a year.

The report comes 11 years after passage of the Americans with
Disabilities
Act.  Despite the landmark legislation, people with disabilities who
seek
jobs "already have two strikes against them going into a job interview,"

said Kirk Bauer, executive director of Rockville, Md.-based Disabled
Sports, USA.

The term "disability" accounted for a variety of definitions, including
those who use a wheelchair or cane; those who had difficulty performing
simple tasks on their own, such as eating or bathing; and people with
learning disability or mental retardation.

Many employers are ignorant of the skills that people with disabilities
bring to a job interview, and many potential bosses see their hiring as
"expensive or litigious," Bauer said.

Those with disabilities also tend to have lower than average educational

and training backgrounds, which leave them less prepared, especially
during
a time of low unemployment, advocates said.

The study also found that 28 percent of those age 25 and over with
severe
disabilities lived in poverty, compared with 10 percent of those with
disabilities considered "less severe" and 8 percent of people with no
disability.

Source:  The Columbus Dispatch, 3/16/2001.