Disability, Work and Inclusion in Ireland: Engaging and Supporting Employers
We collaborated with the OECD during 2020 -2021, who then produced a report called Disability, Work and Inclusion in Ireland: Engaging and Supporting Employers which is available on their website.
The report provides an independent and internationally recognised diagnosis of key trends and untapped opportunities, as it relates to engaging employers in improving labour market outcomes for persons with disabilities. The report showcases learning from other OECD jurisdictions that could be adapted and applied in an Irish context to enhance employer engagement. The analysis provided can guide future policy development in Ireland, as it sets out a number of recommendations for consideration across various government departments.
The report is also available as an Executive Summary and in Easy-to-Read form.
Identification of Skills Gaps Among Persons with Disabilities and their Employment Prospects
As part of the 2020-2022 partnership programme between the NDA and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the ESRI have developed a research report called Identification of Skills Gaps Among Persons with Disabilities and their Employment Prospects which is available on their website.
The report examines data on the skills and employment gaps of persons with disabilities in comparison to persons without disabilities both in Ireland and Europe. This report shows how the situation has changed over time.
The report also investigates the impact of having a disability on an individual’s employment prospects. The research uses several national and European datasets such as the Census of the population, the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) and the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Across the different datasets analysed, a common set of findings emerge from the study.
The analysis utilises a mix of econometric and descriptive statistics methods and includes some novel applications of econometric methods to the analysis of labour market outcomes for persons with disabilities.
The OECD report and the ESRI report were launched with an online webinar in September 2021. The agenda for this event included a Ministerial welcome, presentations by the ESRI and the OECD and a panel discussion with representation from the business community, persons with disabilities and the public sector.
The video recording of this webinar is available to view on the main Employment page.
Employment Transitions among People with a Disability in Ireland
This research draws on the Quarterly National Household Survey data, collected by the Central Statistics Office, for the period from 2010 to 2015, and focuses on employment-related transitions among people with a disability.
The research examines in detail, the factors influencing employment entry and exit and asks whether these differ depending on whether the person has a disability.
The study, funded by the National Disability Authority, was carried out by the ESRI.
The following questions are addressed in the research report:
- What is the nature and scale of movement in and out of different labour force statuses (employed, unemployed, in-active) for people with disabilities, compared to the population as a whole?
- How do employment entries differ by individual and family characteristics, such as age, gender, marital status, education and household type? After taking account of these, is there still a difference between people with and without a disability?
- How do employment exits differ by job characteristics, such as occupation, sector (public/private and industry), size of workplace, full-time or part-time work as well as individual/family characteristics?
Educational and Employment Experiences of People with a Disability in Ireland: An Analysis of the National Disability Survey
This research analysed the micro-data on education and employment from the National Disability Survey 2006. The study, funded by the National Disability Authority under the 2014 Research Promotion Scheme, was carried out by the ESRI .
Key findings from the research:
- 70% of working-age adults with a disability acquired their disability in adult life, with 30% affected from birth or childhood
- People who were affected by their disability during their school years tended to have lower levels of educational qualifications than the wider population
- 17 per cent of people with disabilities missed some time in school because of their disability and 15 per cent left school sooner than they would have liked
- Most working-age people with a disability have worked in the past (56 per cent) or are currently working (29 per cent)
- The highest proportion who have never had a job or who have left a job because of a disability is among those with poor health, low stamina, or mental health difficulties
- There is low employment among people with intellectual disabilities, which is linked to low levels of education
- Those who left work because of a disability tended to be older adults, people with mental health difficulties, and those with problems of health, pain or stamina.
- About half of those not in work state they would like a job if the circumstances were right
- Survey participants were asked what would support them to hold a job. Flexible work arrangements such as reduced hours were identified by 46 per cent, modified job tasks by 29 per cent and disability accessibility modifications by 32 per cent.
Sheltered Employment Services in the United States: Policy and Practice
This report published in 2009 comprises a detailed review of employment policy and practice for people with disabilities the United States. Information is presented on statistics, legislation, benefits and rehabilitation programmes. This information is not exhaustive but rather aims to present general trends in policy and practice.