How has COVID-19 impacted disability employment?

This is an observational population survey analysis, not a clinical trial or intervention study, so it cannot show that telework, employer flexibility, or any other factor caused employment changes. Disability status was based on self-reported difficulty in six areas, and the survey may miss people with disabilities who are not in the labor force or who report differently over time. The pandemic disrupted survey interviewing and response rates, and the disabled sample changed in size and composition, including possible new disabilities from Long COVID or changed willingness to report disability. For people who first entered the survey during the pandemic, pre-COVID employment status was unknown, so job changes could reflect new disability reporting or sample shifts rather than actual employment gains. The analysis compares groups over time and cannot separate within-job improvements from shifts between occupational categories.

Funded by NIDILRR and NIH. One author reports consulting income in the last twelve months from the Service Employees International Union, Inclusa, CareSource, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, but states the CPS data were not collected for those entities and they did not review the research or conclusions.

Do not conclude that telework or disability accommodation programs increased employment for people with disabilities. The study observes national employment trends across groups and cannot assign people to telework or control for changing disability reporting, Long COVID, and survey sampling.