In their ground-breaking work, Financial Literacy and Economic Outcomes: Evidence and Policy Implications, Mitchell and Lusardi suggest that nearly one-third of wealth inequality can be explained by the financial-knowledge gap. According to the authors, this gap could increase as consumers confront ever-more sophisticated financial products and services.
Given that around 56.7 million people — 19 percent of the population – have a disability, according to the 2010 census; nearly 16 million Americans with a disability age 25 or older have at least some college education; and over two million have annual incomes over $50,000 (more here), providing financial education and access to people with disabilities is vital to facilitating a healthier, more inclusive economy.
People with disabilities have faced economic exclusion throughout history, largely owing to discriminatory attitudes and policies. And 28 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with disabilities continue to battle against rampant societal and institutionalized bias.
Frequently stereotyped as unproductive and/or costly to accommodate, individuals with disabilities have suffered higher rates of unemployment along with lower levels of income and savings.
A 2015 survey from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Investor Education Foundation shows that people with disabilities reported lower scores on a financial literacy test than their non-disabled counterparts (44% vs. 53% average) and had lower self-perceived levels of financial knowledge (70% vs. 81%). People with disabilities are also more than twice as likely to find it “very difficult” to cover expenses and bills (23% vs. 9%), and twice as likely to be unbanked (12% vs. 6%), according to leading research.
Exacerbating the equity gap, many government disability benefit programs cap savings at $2,000, a clear disincentive for individuals with disabilities to become financially self-sufficient.