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Individuals with disabilities face an unemployment rate over 80%. Are you ready to change that statistic?

Join MVLE as we Work with Purpose to employ and support individuals living with disabilities!

“Our nation was founded on the principle that anyone who works hard should be able to get ahead in life. People with disabilities deserve the opportunity to earn an income and achieve independence, just like anyone else.”

Hon. Steve Bartlett, Chairman of RespectAbility, and, while in Congress, co-author the Americans with Disabilities Act
One in 4 U.S. adults – 61 million Americans – have a disability that impacts major life activities, according to the CDC. For these individuals–our children, parents, colleagues, brothers, sisters, and friends–full participation in the social and economic life of the nation depends on equal opportunity for competitive employment.

Work is no longer simply an option for people with disabilities, as expectations have fundamentally changed. Most young people with disabilities definitely expect to work following completion of their education, and a significant percentage of people with disabilities who currently receive means-tested public benefits want to work. For these individuals, work is not only a matter of economic security and independence, but of fairness, dignity, and respect—to be seen and valued by peers and colleagues as contributing members of society, and to reach their own potential.

Despite more than a half-century of laws and policies designed to end workplace discrimination and promote equal access to employment, people with disabilities continue to be widely excluded from the workforce. In 2020, only 17.9 percent of people with a disability were employed, compared to an employment rate of 61.8 percent for persons without a disability. in January 2021, the labor force participation rate– the percentage of the population that is working, not working and on temporary layoff, or not working and actively looking for work—stood at 32.8 percent for working-aged people with disabilities, and 75.5 percent for working-aged people without disabilities. Across all age groups, persons with disabilities are much less likely to be employed than those without disabilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on people with disabilities, worsening existing employment disparities. Nationally, about one million U.S. workers with disabilities have lost their jobs since March 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As the economy gradually recovers, it is critical that community resource providers, government, and partners in the private sector work together to ensure that people with disabilities do not get left behind.
The crisis in employment among people with disabilities persists despite good intentions. Laws designed to promote inclusion include Title XIX of the Social Security Act of 1965 (Medicaid Act), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (the predecessor statute to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997), the Developmental Disabilities Act of 1984, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
Decades of research since the ADA became law shows that with appropriate services and accommodations, people with disabilities can compete and succeed in any employment setting. The employment of people with disabilities builds self-sufficiency, enhances the wellbeing of families, and strengthens communities. It is good for the business bottom line. People with disabilities are generally excluded from jobs in the technology-based economy, even though a wide range of accommodations are available. Often, these individuals lack access to training. “Our latest research shows that vocational rehabilitation is largely funneling people into dying industries that are being replaced by automation or technology,” said Neil Romano, President of the National Council on Disability (NCD). For most businesses, the cost of workplace accommodations is negligible. About 59 percent of accommodations cost nothing, and of those with a cost, 36 percent represented a one-time average cost of $500, according to the US Department of Labor’s Job Accommodation Network.
The National Council on Disability, a federal agency that makes recommendations to the President and Congress to enhance the quality of life for Americans with disabilities, outlined four areas that are keys to increasing the number of people with disabilities in the American workforce:

Services for Transitioning Youth

The need for increased skills training, coordination between systems, and employment-related services and supports available to transition-age youth

Public Benefits

The need to dismantle disincentives to work present in the Social Security Act and the Medicaid Act

Federal Employment and Support of Entrepreneurship:

Continued challenges to recruiting and hiring people with targeted disabilities and exclusion from entrepreneurship support

Employer Engagement

Its role in opening government and private sector employment opportunities and highlights of federal and private initiatives to engage private sector employers

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Suite 110
Springfield, VA 22153
  • 703-569-3900
  • mvleinfo@mvle.org
MVLE is an equal opportunity employer. MVLE is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.

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