Disabilities affect one-fifth of all Americans: Proportion could increase in coming decades

WORK AND DISABILITY A major purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was to increase the employment rate of people with disabilities by making it illegal to practice discrimination against individuals who happen to have a disability. The October 1994 January 1995 survey data confirm that employment, while gradually increasing, continues to be a problem for people with disabilities. In the prime employable years of 21 to 64, for example, 82 percent of people without a disability had a job or business compared with 77 percent of those with a non-severe disability, and 26 percent of those with a severe disability. The latter figure actually represents a gain since a previous BOUT 1 IN 5 AMERICANS HAVE some kind of disability, and 1 in 10 have a severe disability (see box for definitions). And, with the population aging and the likelihood of having a disability increasing with age, the growth in the number of people with disabilities can be expected to accelerate in the coming decades. If current trends continue, Americans 65 years old and over will make up 20 percent of the total population by the year 2030 compared with about 12 percent currently. In the October 1994 January 1995 period, for example, about 16 million of an estimated 31 million seniors age 65 and over reported some level of disability.