Fast Facts
The scope and prevalence of disability is significant in the United States and major urban areas like the Atlanta Metropolitan Region. According to the 2004 Harris Survey of Americans With Disabilities:
- Of all working-aged people with disabilities, only 35% are employed full- or part- time, compared with 78% of working age people without disabilities, a gap of 43 percentage points
- Of those with disabilities who are unemployed, 73% would rather be working and 70% cite their disability as the primary reason why they are not working now
- People with disabilities are almost three times as likely as people without disabilities to have a household income of $15,000 or less (26% versus 9%) – a gap of 17 percentage points
- People with disabilities are much less likely to say they are very satisfied with life in general than are people without disabilities 34% versus 61% respectively) – a gap of 27 percentage points
We all have the opportunity to help close that gap. Your participation in Disability 101 is a step in the right direction. Here are a few other statistics to consider:
Georgia Statistics
- 750,334 Georgians of working age with a disability (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey)
- 53.6 % of Georgians of working age with a disability are unemployed (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey)
- 38.3 % gap in employment between working-age Georgians with a disability and those without (Institute for Community Inclusion, data from 2005 American Community Survey)
- More than 400,000 Georgians with a disability are unemployed and of these, 276,000 would prefer to work. (Source: Georgia Dept. of Labor)
- In 2007, the AbilityOne Program employed approximately 1,000 Georgians with disabilities and paid out over $9 million dollars in wages (For more information about the AbilityOne Program, click here.)
National Statistics
- There are 54 million people with disabilities nationwide (Source: U.S. Census)
- There is only a 35% rate of employment among people with disabilities (Source: U.S. Census)
- There is an estimated 8% turnover rate among people with disabilities compared to an overall turnover rate of 45 % (Source: 2003 Crain’s Chicago Business Survey)
- 20.3 million families have at least one member with a disability (Source: The National Business & Disability Council)
- The percentage of Americans with disabilities increased by 25% from 1990 to 2000 (Source: The National Business & Disability Council)
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