Disability Employment Rate
This research initiative focuses on the development of methodology to measure the unemployment rate of people with disabilities. Executive Order 13078 mandated the development of an "accurate and reliable" measure of the employment rate of people with disabilities. ODEP is collaborating with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to develop a valid and reliable method of measuring the unemployment rate of people with disabilities through the Current Population Survey. In 2006, the BLS will test a set of 7 disability questions in the CPS. BLS will use the data from this test to assess the effectiveness of the new questions designed to identify persons with disabilities within the context of the CPS and to evaluate the effect that adding these questions to the CPS on a monthly basis might have on that survey's response rates. The numerous federal agencies that were involved in the effort to design these questions will be particular beneficiaries of this data. Additional groups who may find these data to be of interest include veterans groups, educational associations, disability advocacy groups, researchers, and policy makers.
Additional statistical information on people with disabilities is available from the Census Bureau. Additional sources of disability statistics can be found online at DisabilityInfo.gov.
