Disability

 

In very round numbers, every year represents about five million people and the number of people between 15 and 64 is about 250 million people who are potentially in the labor pool.

There were 28 million Americans with some form of disability in 2012 and that drifted up to 30 million by 2020. In the last six years it has grown to 36 million. That is 14.5% of the entire labor pool.

Twenty years ago, it was rare for a worker under 30 to be on disability. Disability was generally caused by repetitive motion injuries or work-place accidents and the case-rate climbed with age. It is my impression that there has been a significant number of people in their 20s going on disability for emotional/mental issues compared with decades past.

I know this comes across as cold, but there is a world of difference between somebody in construction tapping-out at 48 because his body gave out and a 24 year-old who goes on disability because of an inability to cope with the work-place. The man in construction worked for 30 years and wore out. The 24 year-old hit-the-silk before contributing virtually anything back to society.

All that said, many people with disabilities are fully employed. Sixty percent of the people with hearing disabilities are fully employed while only seventeen percent with "self-care disabilities" are. In total, the labor participation rate of people with disabilities is half that of people who do not designated as disabled.