The Employment Quality of Persons with Disabilities: Findings from a National Survey.
Faraz Vahid Shahidi, Arif Jetha, Vicki Kristman and 2 others
PMID 37043125WHAT IT FOUND
Workers with disabilities in Canada reported worse job conditions than those without, including higher rates of wage theft and job lock.
They were also far less likely to have flexible schedules or training opportunities, though more likely to be in unions.
Key findings
01Persons with disabilities reported significantly higher rates of temporary employment, part-time work, job insecurity, income insecurity, gig work, wage theft, job lock, and skill mismatch compared to those without disabilities.
02Workers with disabilities were significantly less likely to report flexible work schedules, training opportunities, and positive workplace safety climates.
03Persons with both physical and mental/cognitive disabilities had the highest probability of being in precarious employment, more than four times higher than those without disabilities.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine whether disability led to poor job quality or if poor job quality contributed to disability. The response rate was 26.5%, which introduces potential selection bias, particularly if those with the most severe disabilities were less likely to participate. Data was collected during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced employment conditions and the generalizability of the findings to non-pandemic contexts. The survey did not ask about employment preferences, so it is unclear if some workers chose lower-hours or flexible arrangements that also came with lower security.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. No specific conflicts of interest were declared by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that all workers with disabilities prefer the flexible or part-time arrangements they are in. The study found that these arrangements often cluster with adverse conditions like wage theft and job insecurity, suggesting that many are trapped in low-quality jobs rather than choosing them.