EMPLOYMENT &
DISABILITY
Joan O’Donnell
Disability Federation of Ireland
Presentation to Centre for Independent Living
National Leader Forum
The Right to Work: UNCRPD Article 27
Right to work, on an equal basis with others; this
includes the right to the opportunity to gain a
living in a labour market and work environment
that is open, inclusive and accessible
Safeguard and promote the realization of the right
to work, including for those who acquire a
disability
UNCRPD States must
• Prohibit discrimination in recruitment, hiring and
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employment, continuance of employment, career
advancement and safe and healthy working conditions;
Protect rights on an equal basis with others, including
equal opportunities and pay for work of equal value,
safe and healthy working conditions, protection from
harassment, and opportunity to address grievances;
The same labour rights as other workers
Access to guidance programmes, placement services and
training;
Opportunities and career advancement , as well as
assistance in finding, obtaining, maintaining and returning
to employment
The Right to Work UNCRPD
• Promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, the
development of cooperatives and starting one's own business;
• Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector;
• Promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the private
sector
• Ensure reasonable accommodation
• Promote work experience in the open labour market;
• Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention
and return-to-work programmes
National Disability Strategy
Commitment to 10 Year Comprehensive Employment
Strategy
What is the situation of people with
disabilities when it comes to work?
• People with disabilities are only half as likely to be in
employment as others of working age.
• 33% of people with disabilities of working age in work,
compared to 66% of non-disabled people.
• 112,000 people with disabilities in employment.(2011
census)
What is the situation of people with
disabilities when it comes to work?
• For those born with a disability, quality education and
training, and good bridges from education and training
into the world of work, are key to getting on a job and
career ladder.
• For those who acquire a disability during their working life
need support to re-enter the workforce, either returning to
their old job or being retrained for another position
• About four out of five adults with disabilities have acquired
their disability in adult life.
Who wants to work?
• Over one third of people with disabilities, about and
almost two thirds of younger people in the 18-34 age
groups would like to work if the circumstances were
right.
• Half of all those with mental health difficulties want to
work.
What happened in the last 10 years?
• Very little change in the numbers on Disability Allowance
• No significant change in people with disability in
employment between 2004 and 2010.
• Work has become more precarious: zero contract hours,
part time working, low paid.
• People with disabilities must not become the new
“underclass” of workers.
Jobless Households
Almost one quarter of households in Ireland can be described as jobless
compared to a European Union (EU) average of 11%.
• More likely to have:
• no educational qualifications
• to have never worked
• to be in the unskilled social class.
• To be renting
• Single, parenting alone,
• Have a disability or live with someone with a disability.
There are three main factors causing this:
1. How tax and social welfare work and how transitions to from welfare to
work.
2. Availability of jobs and whether the skills of those in jobless households
match the requirements of the job.
3. Specific characteristics of the jobless household, eg age, level of
education and skills, and the health of the adults &, age and number of
children.
Why are so few people with disabilities
working?
Level of education and skills
Fears around loss of benefits
Employer know-how
Low expectations
Limited re-entry to work following onset of a disability.
Support Needs
• A higher proportion of those people with disabilities who
are not in work are limited in the type or amount of work
they could do. On the other hand, about 15% of those
with difficulty working are in fact in work.
• On average higher support needs among those currently
outside the workforce than among those currently in work.
• The single most frequent change sought: more flexible
hours.
How relevant is education?
• There is a close link between education levels,
employment chances, and income earned over
someone’s lifetime.
• People with disabilities have lower levels of education
than the population at large. This affects chances of
getting a job, and their potential earnings in work.
• Some of the difference in education levels reflects the fact
that people with disabilities are older than the average,
but differences in outcomes remain for younger people
with disabilities.
Comparisons with other groups
• Strength of labour market connection:
• People with weaker connections to the labour market fare
worst during recessions eg. women and migrants as
labour reserve.
• This also applies to people with disabilities who may find it
harder to find work when demand for labour is low.
How to play to strengths?
• There is more part time work
• Activation Schemes
• Self-employment
• Less emigration
• Ensure that we get a Comprehensive Employment
strategy that will deliver real jobs and supports
• Any questions?
• Thank you.
• Joan O’Donnell
• [email protected]
• 086 3834587