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17.5 percent of people with a disability employed in 2015
June 24, 2016
The employment–population ratio for people with a disability, at 17.5 percent, edged up in 2015, essentially returning to the 2013 level. The ratio for those with no disability increased to 65.0 percent.
Employment–population ratio by disability status, sex, and age, 2009–2015
Year
Total, age 16 and over
Men, ages 16 to 64
Women, ages 16 to 64
Total, age 65 and over
With a disability
With no disability
With a disability
With no disability
With a disability
With no disability
With a disability
With no disability
2009
19.2%
64.5%
31.7%
75.2%
27.7%
66.3%
6.3%
20.7%
2010
18.6
63.5
30.7
74.3
26.5
65.3
6.1
20.6
2011
17.8
63.6
29.2
74.9
24.9
65.0
6.4
21.4
2012
17.8
63.9
29.5
75.8
24.7
65.3
6.9
21.9
2013
17.6
64.0
29.2
76.2
24.6
65.5
6.9
22.4
2014
17.1
64.6
28.1
77.3
24.0
66.2
6.8
22.5
2015
17.5
65.0
29.2
77.9
24.8
66.7
6.7
23.1
The lower employment–population ratio among people with a disability reflects, in part, the older age profile of people with a disability; older workers are less likely to be employed regardless of disability status. However, across all age groups, people with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability.
The employment–population ratios for men ages 16 to 64—both men with a disability and men with no disability—have been higher than the corresponding ratios for women. Over the 2009–15 period, the employment–population ratio for men ages 16 to 64 with a disability showed no clear trend, averaging approximately 30 percent, while the ratio for women ages 16 to 64 with a disability averaged about 25 percent.
Among people with a disability age 65 and over, the employment–population ratio, at 6.7 percent in 2015, was about unchanged from the prior year. For people without a disability, the ratio increased to 23.1 percent for those age 65 and over.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics — 2015" (HTML) (PDF). The employment–population ratio is the number of employed people divided by the number of people in the civilian noninstitutional population, expressed as a percentage. To learn more about statistics on people with a disability, see Demographics: Disability.
United States Department of Labor
