Those who suffer from a disability have a harder time finding work than those who do not, according to a recent Labor Department report. About 12 percent of Americans who are 16 and older have a disability, but this group only accounts for 3 percent of those who have a job in the U.S. It’s not hard to imagine why the number of applicants filing for Social Security Disability has been on the rise over the years.
Rodger DeRose, president of the Kessler Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to improve employment and job-training options for Americans with disabilities, told The Wall Street Journal that there are some big challenges for those with disability and companies looking to hire them. There are fears and doubts that those with disability will be able to meet demands of a job, but he said there is more willingness today than there has been.
“Companies are slowly engaging,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re seeing more of it with big companies now starting to actively participate in hiring.”
However, the numbers do not lie. The Labor Department report found that 17.6 percent of people who were disabled had a job in 2013, which is down slightly from 2012. Currently, there are 28.6 million people over 16 who have a disability. Americans without a disability are much better off, it seems.
According to the Labor Department, 64 percent of Americans without a disability had a job, with a 7.1 percent jobless rate as of the end of 2013. Much of the work was part time, as 34 percent of disabled workers were employed part-time, compared with 19 percent of those without a disability.
When a person can no longer work, the Social Security system is available to replace some of the income lost from the inability to work. If a person is denied disability benefits, the Law Offices of Harold W. Conick and Associates is ready, willing and able to help win your disability benefits.
