Examining employment outcomes of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in The Netherlands using non-public microdata.
Bas C H M Elsendoorn, Loes Wauters, Corrie Tijsseling and 3 others
PMID 40172845WHAT IT FOUND
Among working-age people who claimed Dutch sensory disability care, 70% of deaf or hard-of-hearing claimants were employed, compared with 75% of a matched Dutch population, and working claimants earned lower average hourly wages.
Key findings
01Among people aged 15 to 65 years, 70% of deaf or hard-of-hearing claimants were employed, compared with 75% of the matched Dutch population.
02Deaf or hard-of-hearing claimants were more likely to have sick leave or disability pension as an income source than the matched Dutch population, with a 20% difference reported.
03Working deaf or hard-of-hearing claimants earned less on average than their matched counterparts, and the wage difference was most prominent around age 50.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only people who claimed Dutch sensory disability care between 2015 and 2019 were included, so deaf or hard-of-hearing people who did not use this care are not represented. The sample required people to have a health question related to their sensory disability and to find their way through the Dutch healthcare system, which may select for a specific group. The study cannot be generalised to the entire Dutch deaf or hard-of-hearing population, to deaf or hard-of-hearing populations in other countries, or to the global deaf or hard-of-hearing population. Administrative data do not show why the employment differences occur or whether people are satisfied with their work. The matched Dutch population may include deaf or hard-of-hearing people, although none claimed sensory disability care in the study period. The study does not test interventions or explain causes; it only reports observed differences.
Declared interests
The study was supported by Bartiméus Fonds, Royal Visio, and Royal Kentalis under grant number 2021019V. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these results as describing all deaf or hard-of-hearing people. The study included only people who claimed Dutch sensory disability care between 2015 and 2019, and the authors state the results cannot be generalised to the entire Dutch deaf or hard-of-hearing population or to other countries.