Employment Consequences of COVID-19 for People with Disabilities and Employers.
Jasin Wong, Nnaemezie Ezeife, Angelika Kudla and 7 others
PMID 35037157WHAT IT FOUND
A quarter of surveyed people with physical disabilities reported pandemic-related work changes, including pay cuts, reduced hours, or job loss.
Nearly all surveyed employers reported business impacts.
Key findings
0124.8% of eligible people with disabilities reported employment changes since the pandemic.
02Among people with disabilities whose employment changed, 42.2% reported decreased pay or serious financial problems, 41.1% worked remotely or from home more than usual, and 40.0% were furloughed, on medical leave, or worked reduced hours.
0397.0% of surveyed employers reported that COVID-19 affected their business.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show how employment changed over time or prove causes. Respondents were mainly adults with physical disabilities who had internet access, spoke English, and lived in the Midwest. The disability sample was much more educated than the national disability population: 61.2% had a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 15.8% nationally. The employer sample was small (67) and overrepresented health care, social services, education, and larger companies. Results are self-reported and may not apply to people with disabilities outside the United States, people who do not use English, or people without internet access. No random sample or response rate is reported. The paper's relevance to occupational therapy comes from the authors' discussion, not a tested occupational therapy service.
Declared interests
The supplied article text does not include a conflicts-of-interest or funding statement. The publication types list U.S. government Public Health Service support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these percentages as proof that COVID-19 caused employment changes. The study is a cross-sectional self-report survey of people with physical disabilities in the Midwest, so it shows what respondents said happened at one time point, not a tested effect.