ADA Audio Conference Series
June 15, 2010

Slide 1:
Disability Statistics: 
What do they tell us?
Andrew J. Houtenville, Ph.D.
University of New Hampshire
June 15, 2010

Slide 2:
Quick Answers
The promotional sent out had some great questions.
To be sure I get to them, let me answer them first rather quickly, and then I will get back to them over the course of my talk.

Slide 3:
Quick Answer #1
Where does the 54 million Americans living with a disability number come from? 
McNeil, J. (1997). Americans with disabilities: 1994-94. Current Population Reports Studies, P70-61.  www.census.gov/prod/3/97pubs/p70-61.pdf 
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), with a relatively broad definition of disability, but doesn’t include persons living in institutions.
More recent SIPP estimates are at 54.4 million in 2005, go to www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-117.pdf

Slide 4:
Quick Answer #2
Why are there different numbers out there about the size of the population with disabilities? 
Surveys use different questions to identify the population with disabilities. 
New set of six questions used in several sources make comparisons more straight forward (but not identical).

Slide 5:
Quick Answer #3
Why are there different numbers out there about the unemployment rate of people with disabilities? 
Since October 2008, we have the “official” unemployment rate for the population with disabilities from the BLS   14.7% in May 2010.
Go to www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t06.htm
The erroneous 70% number may have several sources that are not the same as the unemployment rate:
100% – 30% employment rate --- not same as u-rate.
70% of people with disabilities not working want to work
Slide 6:
Quick Answer #4
What can we expect to learn about disability from the 2010 Census?  
Probably very little, because the “long form,” which was the source of 1970-2000 Census data, was replaced by the annual American Community Survey (ACS).
The ACS is now a major sources for population statistics in the U.S., and it has six disability questions.

Slide 7:
Quick Answer #5
Where can I get more information about disability statistics and the underlying sources? 
My not-so-unbiased answer is the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC) at Hunter College.
Funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).
The StatsRRTC produces the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium.

Slide 8:
Purpose of this Presentation
Describe the purpose of the Compendium
Highlight some of the statistical patterns found in the Compendium
Discuss potential uses of the Compendium
Future expansion of the Compendium
Accessing the Compendium and technical assistance

Slide 9:
Purpose of the Compendium
To provide the disability community with a comprehensive set of the statistics
Ready access
Up-to-date
Variety of topics and sources
Population (survey) and administrative statistics
Guide to existing sources of data and statistics
Modeled after Statistical Abstracts of the U.S.

Slide 10:
Design of the Compendium
Basically ... a massive set of tables with descriptive summary pages
Based on existing published statistics
References to original sources with links
Access to technical assistance via a toll free number
A particular focus on state-level statistics in this the first year.
Issue with 2008 ACS Summary Files

Slide 11:
Topics Covered
Population size and disability prevalence
Employment, poverty, and earnings from work, 
Education (enrollment and attainment)
Self-reported health status, health behaviors,	and other health statistics
Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance
Special education
Vocational rehabilitation
Monthly employment statistics	

Slide 12:
Topics Covered
Population size and disability prevalence
Employment, poverty, and earnings from work, 
Education (enrollment and attainment)
Self-reported health status, health behaviors,	and other health statistics
Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance
Special education
Vocational rehabilitation
Monthly employment statistics

Slide 13:	
Cautions
Definition of Disability: Because the Compendium contains statistics from different data sources, the questions and methods used to identify the population with disabilities.
See Glossary.
Definition of Employment/Unemployment: such statistics are constructed in very specific ways.
See Glossary.
Don’t compare 2007 and 2008 ACS statistics ... different questions were used.

Slide 14:
Population Size and Disability Prevalence
Table 86 - Civilians Living in the Community: 2008
		298.6 million
		262.5 million without disabilities
		36.1 million with disabilities
		12.1 percent disability prevalence rate
		8.9 percent in Utah
		19.0 percent in West Virginia

Slide 15:
Disability Type
Tables 91-96 - Civilians Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community: 2008
		Any Dis.      19.0 million	
		Hearing	   4.1 million	21.3%
		Vision 	   3.4 million	18.0%
		Cognitive	   7.7 million	40.5%
		Ambulatory	   9.6 million	50.7%
		Self-Care	   3.3 million	17.5%	
Ind. Liv.   	   6.5 million	34.4%

Slide 16:
Employment
Tables 97 and 98. Employment—Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community: 2008 
		19.0 million with disabilities
		7.4 million with disabilities employed
		    39.1 percent employed

		168.6 million without disabilities
		131.0 million without disabilities employed
		   77.7 percent employed

Slide 17:
Voc. Rehab. Statistics
Currently four tables (78-81) using FFY 2007.
Table 78: Number of Applications (589,639 individuals)
Table 79: Closures (341,030 individuals)
Table 80: Closures from initiated/completed services (202,708 individuals)
Table 81: Rehabilitation Rate (59.4 percent)
Working with CSAVR to expand this set of statistics.
Your recommendations are needed.

Slide 18:
Recent Unemployment Trend
Table 84. Monthly Unemployment of Civilians Ages 16 to 64 by Disability Status
Figure showing that among people without disabilities ages 16-64 the unemployment rose from 6 million to 10 million from Feb 08 through March 2010 and the rate of unemployment for people with disabilities in the same age range rose from 12million to 14 million over the same time period with many more spikes than those without disabilities such that at one point in August of 08 the unemployment rate was 18 million for people with disabilities.  More fluctuation in the unemployment rate for people with disabilities versus without during the same time period.

Slide 19:
Applications to SSDI
Table 85. Monthly Number of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Applications
Figure showing monthly number of social security disability insurance (SSDI) applications.  Shows gradual increase from 8/02 with approximately 150,000 per month through 12/09 with over 250,000 per month

Slide 20:
Future Expansion
Four more years.
Add more time-trend information
May require estimating our own statistics.
Add some additional sources, e.g., EEOC, non-disability programs serving people with disabilities.
Include cost statistics for key gov’t programs
(Wish) Descriptions of the current policies and programs associated with statistics.

Slide 21:
Pop Quiz
When looking at disability statistics, what is probably the most important question to ask about how that statistics was computed?

Slide 22:
Accessing the Compendium
www.DisabilityCompendium.org
Accessible pdf and accessible html.
Limited print versions (at least this year)
Technical assistance available at our toll-free number -- 866-538-9521

Slide 23:
Contact Information
	Andrew J. Houtenville, Ph.D.
	Institute on Disability
	University of New Hampshire
	10 West Edge Drive, Suite 201
	Durham, NH  03824
	(603) 862-3999
	Andrew.Houtenville@unh.edu