A CSO Frontier Series Output- What is this?
In this Frontier Series Output, a person with a disability is defined by the self reported disability indicator in Census 2016.
A person with a disability can have more than one type of disability, and will be included in each type of disability indicated in Census 2016. See Background Notes
The income and employment status in 2019 of working age people with disabilities (aged 15-64) are looked at in this chapter. he analysis is completed using employment data from Revenue and social welfare payments data from the Department of Social Protection (DSP).
This report uses six categories for employment status, (see Background Notes for more details):
Previous reports by CSO, ESRI and others have used the principal economic status question in Census to look at employment rate of people with a disability. The principal economic status in Census shows that 30.2% of people with a disability are in employment. This report uses a different method to calculate employment which is based on income and number of weeks worked (see Background Notes).This will include those who reported 'Student or Pupil', 'Retired', 'Looking after home/family' or other status as their principal economic status in Census 2016, but meet the definition of employment based on income and number of weeks worked in 2019.
In the 2016 Census, 323,062 people of working age (15-64) said they had a disability. By 2019, 28.1% were in employment with no social welfare, 4.9% were employed and had a long-term disability payment and 11.0% were employed and had another working age social welfare payment. Therefore, just under half (44.1%) of working age people with a disability were in employment in 2019. See Figure 2.1, Table 2.1 and Table 2.2.
People aged 25-34 had the highest proportion in employment at 56.7%. The highest proportion in employment, with no social welfare payment, was 36.4% for those aged 15-24.
In 2019, 33.0% of working age people with a disability who were not in employment were on long term disability payments, 9.1% were on other social welfare payments and 13.8% had no working age income. Thus, just over half (55.9%) of working age people with a disability were not in employment in 2019.
| Sex | Employed (Receiving Long Term Diability Payment) | Employed (Receiving Other Working Age Social Welfare Payment) | Employed (Not Receiving Social Welfare Payment) | No Working Age Income | Receiving Long Term Disability Payment | Receiving Other Social Welfare Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 5.42 | 9.5 | 31.2 | 12.1 | 34.9 | 6.9 |
| Female | 4.4 | 12.4 | 25.2 | 15.5 | 31.2 | 11.3 |
Table 2.3 looks at all people from Table 2.1 above. Median gross income (across all sources) for all working age people with a disability was €14,370 in 2019. The highest value was €15,139 for those with deafness or a serious hearing impairment, while the lowest was €11,320 for those with an intellectual disability.
For those with employment (those in categories 'Employed, not receiving social welfare', 'Employed, receiving long-term disability payment' and 'Employed, receiving other working age social welfare'), median earned income was €20,012. The highest medians were for those with other disability (€22,687) and deafness or a serious hearing impairment (€22,676) while the lowest was for those with an intellectual disability (€9,937).
The median social welfare payments of those who receieve social welfare (those in categories 'Not employed, receiving long-term disability payment', 'Not employed, receiving other working age social welfare', 'Employed, receiving long-term disability payment' and 'Employed, receiving other working age social welfare') was €12,257. See Table 2.3.
Recipients of disability allowance are supported to pursue employment or self-employment through earning disregards in the means test. A recipient can earn up to €140 per week from employment or self-employment without their payment being affected, while weekly earnings between €140 and €350 are assessed at a 50% rate (i.e. 50% are disregarded for the purposes of the means assessment). Earnings from employment over €350 per week are assessed on a euro for euro basis.
For people in employment, median earned income was €23,632 for those not receiving disability payments, about three times higher than the median of €7,631 for those who were receiving disability payments. The median earned income for those not receiving disability payments ranged from €26,059 for those with other disability, including chronic illness, to €16,863 for those with an intellectual disability. For recipients of disability payments, the median earned income ranged from €8,973 for people with blindness or a vision impairment to €5,460 for those with an intellectual disability. See Table 2.4 and Figure 2.2.
CSO's 'Earnings Analysis Using Administrative Data 2018' stated that the median earned income for all employees was €36,095 in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. This is significantly higher than the median earned income of people with a disability in 2019.
| Receipt of Disability Payment | Not Receiving Long Term Disability Payment | Receiving Long Term Disability Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Total disabilities | 23631.59 | 7631 |
| Blindness or a serious vision impairment | 24304.655 | 8973 |
| Deafness or a serious hearing impairment | 25439.38 | 8504.58 |
| A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities | 20090 | 8546 |
| An intellectual disability | 16862.485 | 5460 |
| Difficulty in learning, remembering or concentrating | 17072.1 | 6240 |
| Psychological or emotional condition | 22006.175 | 6925.815 |
| Other disability, including chronic illness | 26059.415 | 8654.65 |
| Difficulty with dressing,bathing and getting aroud the home | 18223.08 | 7493.545 |
| Difficulty working at a job or attending school/college | 20405 | 7711.8 |
| Difficulty going outside the home alone | 17226 | 6401.625 |
| Difficulty participating in other activities | 21913.015 | 7842.485 |
The main sectors where the 142,358 people with a disability were employed in 2019 were Wholesale, Retail & Trade (21,543), Health & Social Work (16,372) and Public Administration & Defence (14,275). See Figure 2.3 and Table 2.5.
| NACE Sector | Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (A) | Industry (B-E) | Construction (F) | Wholesale, Retail & Trade (G) | Transportation & Storage (H) | Accommodation & Food Service Activities (I) | Information & Communication (J) | Finance & Real Estate (K,L) | Professional, Scientific, Technical Activities (M) | Administrative & Support Service Activities (N) | Public Administration & Defence (O) | Education (P) | Health and Social Work (Q) | Other NACE Activities (R-U) | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total disabilities | 1.1 | 7.9 | 4.1 | 15.1 | 3.2 | 8.1 | 3.8 | 6.1 | 4.9 | 6.7 | 10.0 | 6.12861307203315 | 11.4986127208232 | 4.31636989428581 | 7.02419836336178 |
| Blindness or a serious vision impairment | 1.21479845389288 | 8.89011595803423 | 4.36223081170624 | 15.1297625621204 | 2.98177802319161 | 9.16620651573716 | 4.1413583655439 | 5.79790171176146 | 4.527885146328 | 7.39922694643843 | 9.7736057426836 | 5.13528437327443 | 10.9331860850359 | 3.58917725013805 | 6.95748205411375 |
| Deafness or a serious hearing impairment | 1.03318722604884 | 9.45522855353788 | 4.69630557294928 | 13.1809643080776 | 3.85097056981841 | 5.54164057608015 | 3.09956167814652 | 6.95053224796493 | 4.57107075767063 | 5.4164057608015 | 11.6155291170946 | 6.01127113337508 | 11.4902943018159 | 4.00751408891672 | 9.07952410770194 |
| A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities | 0.927213722763097 | 7.67269355586463 | 3.77839592025962 | 13.4909596662031 | 3.98701900788132 | 6.53685674547983 | 2.54983773759852 | 6.53685674547983 | 3.98701900788132 | 6.69911914696338 | 10.9874826147427 | 6.09643022716736 | 13.0505331478906 | 4.17246175243394 | 9.52712100139082 |
| An intellectual disability | 1.87927107061503 | 8.25740318906606 | 4.78359908883827 | 23.3485193621868 | 2.5626423690205 | 14.9202733485194 | 2.16400911161731 | 4.49886104783599 | 3.5876993166287 | 7.28929384965831 | 4.49886104783599 | 3.0751708428246 | 10.250569476082 | 5.125284738041 | 3.75854214123007 |
| Difficulty in learning, remembering or concentrating | 2.05806688717383 | 7.99338478500551 | 6.26607864755605 | 18.6879823594267 | 2.97684674751929 | 12.7159132671812 | 2.95847115031239 | 4.5755237045204 | 4.09775817714076 | 7.82800441014333 | 5.53105475927968 | 3.50973906651966 | 10.2535832414553 | 5.34729878721058 | 5.20029400955531 |
| Psychological or emotional condition | 0.781769793745842 | 6.12109115103127 | 2.77777777777778 | 15.7684630738523 | 2.52827677977379 | 8.61610113107119 | 4.85695276114438 | 5.93812375249501 | 5.05655355954757 | 7.45176314038589 | 9.78043912175649 | 6.73652694610778 | 13.107119095143 | 5.2228875582169 | 5.25615435795077 |
| Other disability, including chronic illness | 0.868664328976729 | 7.73828498565508 | 3.37105514823079 | 13.8348740835193 | 3.25948358304112 | 6.41536499840612 | 4.14408670704495 | 6.6942939113803 | 5.12432260121135 | 6.19222186802678 | 11.547656997131 | 7.16448836467963 | 12.0497290404845 | 3.92891297417915 | 7.66656040803315 |
| Difficulty with dressing,bathing and getting aroud the home | 0.921273031825796 | 9.88274706867672 | 4.02010050251256 | 5.69514237855946 | 4.18760469011725 | 9.79899497487437 | 2.5963149078727 | 7.20268006700168 | 4.35510887772194 | 7.53768844221105 | 10.7202680067002 | 6.11390284757119 | 12.9815745393635 | 5.10887772194305 | 8.87772194304858 |
| Difficulty working at a job or attending school/college | 1.25530736570057 | 7.75336902344471 | 4.393575779952 | 15.8574856931881 | 3.26749123130884 | 9.83939449880007 | 2.80598117038951 | 6.184234816319 | 4.06128853609009 | 7.21801735277829 | 7.66106701126085 | 5.03968986523906 | 11.8700387668451 | 4.57817980431973 | 8.21487908436404 |
| Difficulty going outside the home alone | 0.88809946714032 | 7.81527531083481 | 3.07874481941978 | 16.5186500888099 | 3.01953818827709 | 11.4268798105388 | 2.54588513913558 | 6.15748963883955 | 3.67081113084665 | 8.05210183540557 | 8.22972172883363 | 4.79573712255773 | 12.7886323268206 | 4.79573712255773 | 6.21669626998224 |
| Difficulty participating in other activities | 0.884422110552764 | 7.57788944723618 | 3.53768844221106 | 15.2562814070352 | 3.33668341708543 | 7.47738693467337 | 3.19597989949749 | 6.81407035175879 | 4.48241206030151 | 6.29145728643216 | 10.894472361809 | 6.25125628140703 | 11.8391959798995 | 4.40201005025126 | 7.75879396984925 |
The highest median earned income for people with a disability, and who did not receive a long-term disability payment, was in the Information and Communication sector (€41,858) while the lowest was in Accommodation & Food Service Activities (€12,712). For those who did receive a long-term disability payment, the highest median earned income was in Public Administration & Defence (€12,972) and the lowest was in Accommodation & Food Service Activates (€5,327). See Table 2.6.
To examine how people move on and off long term disability payments over time, beneficiaries of long term disability payments in the years 2016 and 2019 were compared. There are many reasons a person may move on or off long term disability payments. If a disability is acquired, or becomes more severe, a person who was employed may no longer be able to work. Age is also a factor. Those who retire will begin receiving the state pension at 65 instead of a long term disability payment, or a person who turns 16 can begin to receive their own long term disability payment.
Of all people who indicated they had a disability in the 2016 Census, 55% did not receive a long term disability payment in 2016 and 2019. A further 5% received long term disability payments in both years. The remaining 40% received a long term disability payment in 2016 or 2019, but not both. See Table 2.7.
Two in 100 (2%) people who indicated that they did not have a disability or did not answer in the 2016 Census received long term disability payments in both 2016 and 2019. Most (97%) people who indicated that they did not have a disability or did not answer in the 2016 Census did not receive a long term disability payment. See Table 2.7.
| Long term disability payment Status | No Disability indicated on Census | People with Disability |
|---|---|---|
| Received long term disability benefit in 2016 and 2019 | 44736 | 110183 |
| Did not receive long term disability benefit in 2016, received long term disability benefit 2019 | 33219 | 21836 |
| Received long term disability benefit in 2016, did not receive long term disability benefit 2019 | 12287 | 21130 |
About three in four people (79%) who stopped receiving long term disability payments in 2019, having received them in 2016, were aged over 60 years of age. See Table 2.8.
Eight in ten (80%) people who did receive long term disability payments in 2016 and not in 2019 were receiving the State Pension in 2019. Just under one in ten (8%) of those with a disability and who were no longer receiving long term disability payments in 2019 were employed (with or without social welfare) in 2019. See Table 2.9.
| Employment Status | Employed (not Receiving Social Welfare) | Employed (Receiving other working Age Social Welfare Payment) | No working Age income | Receiving Other Social welfare Payment | Receiving Pensions in 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Disability indicated on Census | 13.5 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 76.5 |
| Person with Disability | 10.2 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 81.5 |
About two in five (39%) people with a disability who received a long-term disability payment in 2019, but not in 2016, were aged 50-59 in 2016. See Table 2.10.
Just over half (53%) people with a disability who were receiving long term disability payments in 2019, but not in 2016, were receiving other social welfare in 2016. Some forms of long term disability payments require you to be receiving other short term disability payments for a period of time before you are transferred to a long term disability payment. See Table 2.11.
| Employment Status | Employed (not Recieving Social Welfare) | Employed (Recieving other working Age Social Welfare Payment) | No working Age income | Recieving Other Social welfare Payment | Under 16 in 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Disability indicated on Census | 17.0 | 29.9 | 4.1 | 48.7 | 0.3 |
| Person with Disability | 9.2 | 23.7 | 4.5 | 61.9 | 1.0 |
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