“Today, we will focus the HELP Committee’s attention on an often overlooked piece of the employment puzzle—the shockingly low labor force participation rates of workers with disabilities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of August, there were more than 15 million adults with disabilities in the U.S. between the ages of 16 and 64. Of this group, less than one third were participating in the labor force, and over two thirds were not in the labor force. Although BLS has only been reporting on disability employment rates in their monthly updates since 2008, it is worth noting that the size of the disability labor force has shrunk by over 600,000 people in the three years for which we have data. That represents a more than 10 percent reduction in three years. During the same period, the size of the workforce for people without disabilities shrunk by less than one percent. That means in the last three years, people with disabilities have been leaving the labor force at a rate more than 10 times the rate of the non-disabled population. This is unacceptable and we need to take action to change this trend." -Tom Harkin
There are many solutions that improve employment for specific individuals with disabilities. But in Michigan, there are more than half a million persons with a disability that interferes with work. The real issue is that these successful methods don't scale very well. Even Michigan Rehabilitation Services only helps a couple tens of thousands each year.
Part of the problem is that most people with disabilities don't see themselves as members of a community of people with common barriers and interests. Instead, they use the same default stereotypes that people without disabilities use in judging themselves and their chances of employment.
More later......