Handout: ILO Perspective: Reasons for Low Employment Rates for Persons with Disabilities

Based on reviews undertaken by the International Labour Organization, reasons given for low employment rates among persons with disabilities include:

• Negative stereotypes about a person’s ability
• Fears of degenerative illness and time off
• Fears of negative attitudes of other staff or customers
• Concerns about low productivity rates
• Lack of job adjustment
• Lack of positive attitude to people with disabilities
• Low levels of education and training
• Declining demand for unskilled labour
• Reductions in the workforce of large enterprises and the public service
• Concern about accidents and insurance costs
• Reluctance of individuals to register as having a disability
• Lack of information on work opportunities
• Lack of disability-sensitive teaching staff and inaccessibility of teaching material and methods compound exclusion from educational achievement
• Lack of awareness among employers of needs and abilities of persons with disabilities
• “Benefits trap” - a situation in which an individual is financially better off staying on benefits, where they exist, than taking a job, taking into account all the financial implications;
• Fear of losing welfare benefits
• Discouragement due to experiences of failure in obtaining jobs and/or internalized negative images
• Lack of exposure to positive role models and mentors
• Inadequate technical/personal support
• No legislation to protect people with disabilities against employment discrimination