A recent survey of people with disabilities shows how pervasively disadvantaged they still are, and how far they have to go before the quality of their lives even approaches that of people without disabilities. Some of the biggest differences between Americans with and without disabilities are in employment, income, transportation, health care and life satisfaction.

These "gaps" between people with disabilities and the rest of the population are among the many findings in a nationwide survey conducted by Harris for the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.). The survey is based on interviews with 1,000 people aged 16 and over with disabilities conducted in April, May and June of this year. It can be compared with similar surveys conducted in 1986 and 1994, and with other surveys of people without disabilities.

Some of the most dramatic and disturbing differences, or gaps, are the following:

Employment: Only 29% of Americans with disabilities aged 18 to 64 are working, compared to 79% of Americans without disabilities in this age category. This is a "gap" of 50 percentage points, and confirms that the biggest of all burdens for people with disabilities is that the great majority do not have paid employment.

Life outside the home and socializing: People with disabilities have much less access to activities and amenities outside the home that most people take for granted. For example, only 33% of people with disabilities eat out in a restaurant at least once a week, compared to 60% of people without disabilities – a gap of 27 percentage points.

Fully 31% of people with disabilities, but only 16% of those without disabilities, do not socialize at least once a week with close friends, relatives or neighbors. While this is a gap of "only" 15 percentage points, it shows that people with disabilities are twice as likely as others to have a limited social life.

Income: People with disabilities are almost three times as likely as people without disabilities to live in households with total incomes of $15,000 or less (34% compared to 12%, a gap of 22 percentage points).

Transportation: People with disabilities are almost twice as likely as people without disabilities to say that inadequate transportation is a problem (30% compared to 17%, a gap of 13 percentage points).

Access to health care: People with disabilities are almost twice as likely as people without disabilities to report that, on one or more occasions, they did not get the medical services they needed in the last twelve months (21% compared to 11%).

Life satisfaction: Only one-third of people with disabilities (33%) say they are "very satisfied" with their lives, compared to nearly two-thirds (61%) of people without disabilities.

These findings, and many other results of this survey, document in disturbing detail the enormous differences in the quality of life, and standard of living of Americans with disabilities.

This new research, along with earlier surveys by N.O.D. and Harris, shows that in general, the gaps between Americans with disabilities and other Americans have not changed much over the last twelve years, notwithstanding the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.

The biggest improvement since 1986 relates to education, as the proportion of people with disabilities who have not graduated from high school has fallen (from 39% to 20%). The gap in percentage points between those with disabilities and other Americans who have not graduated has also diminished (from 24 to 11). One other "gap" that has narrowed is in the number of people attending church or religious services at least once a month, where the gap has closed from 11 to only 3.

However, there is little or no evidence of other gaps closing. The differences between people with and without disabilities in employment, income, going out to restaurants and socializing, have not changed substantially in twelve years.

On one other vital indicator, the gap has actually increased. Fewer people with disabilities (33%) today than in 1986 (39%) say they are "very satisfied" with their lives. On life satisfaction, the gap in percentage points between Americans with and without disabilities has increased substantially from 11 to 28.

The survey finding that most of these gaps have not closed comes as a surprise. One reason why the differences are still so large also emerges from the survey; the proportion of people whose disabilities are severe has increased substantially.

Commenting on the survey results, Alan Reich, President of the National Organization on Disability, said " America can and must do better. Full and equal participation remains a dream deferred. But, as the survey also shows, people with disabilities are generally optimistic about the future. We are committed to closing the gaps in participation. This is America's disability agenda as we enter the new millennium."

*These variables are "negative", i.e., a high score is "bad"
**Source: 1996 Current Population Survey

TABLE 2

*These variables are "negative", i.e., a high score is "bad"
Note: Only eight "Key Indicators" are represented in this table, since two of the ten indicators were not measured in previous years.

(Percentage Points)

1986 1994 1998

Gaps Gaps Gaps

*These variables are "negative", i.e., a high score is "bad"

Note: Only seven "Key Indicators" are represented in this table, since three of the ten indicators were not measured in previous years.

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between April to June, among a nationwide cross section of 1,000 disabled adults, age 16 and over, for the National Organization on Disability. Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

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