Employment
published in the Republican July 2020
In 2019, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 7.9 percent. That number has probably worsened due to the pandemic since then.
In 2017, the Kessler Foundation conducted a study about employment and people with disabilities. The study found that the most common barrier to employment of disabled people was the lack of health insurance or the risk of losing government benefits.
There are several steps that can be taken to help people with disabilities gain employment. The most important one is to restructure government benefits so that people with disabilities can work without losing them. Due to the restrictions, many people are afraid to work but find that they need to because the benefits are not enough to sustain a quality of living.
Another step that can be taken is to empower employers to hire people with disabilities. For example, employers can take tax credits or deductions for hiring disabled workers.
There is also a need to end subminimum wage. The perception of people with disabilities has changed over the decades, especially with the accessibility options for disabled people to succeed in the workplace.
Being employed is a big step in living independently in our own communities. It helps build character, improve social skills and gain new experiences.