For reporters looking for a fresh angle in the world of work, here’s a story that’s largely overlooked: The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is the highest of all minority groups. It’s particularly bad for women, whose unemployment rate is more than twice the rate of non-disabled women. More than 30 percent of people with disabilities end up working part-time, compared with 17 percent of the non-disabled population. What are the numbers in your community, and what do people with disabilities say are the barriers they face?

Sources:

Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahkim/2019/02/20/women-with-disabilities-unemployment/#36d1ffa458a1

Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm

Fortune: https://fortune.com/2017/02/28/disability-employment-rank/

By Susan LoTempio​, board member, National Center on Disability and Journalism
Contact Susan on Twitter @slotempio or via email at slotempio@gmail.com.