The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC) at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (IOD) released its 2018 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium on February 13, 2019 at the National Academies of Science in Washington, DC. The Compendium pulls together disability statistics on a variety of topics from numerous US federal agencies.
“The statistics contained in the 2018 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium highlight the work that still needs to be done to improve the lives of Americans with disabilities,” said Andrew Houtenville, research director at the IOD and principal investigator of the StatsRRTC. “Statistics are crucial for monitoring progress—or the lack thereof—in key areas and motivating positive change with respect to expectations, attitudes, and policies.”
Key findings from the 2018 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium include:
- In 2017, approximately 12.7% of people in the United States had a disability.
- In 2017, approximately 40,678,654 of people in the United States had a disability.
- Approximately 37.0% of people with disabilities in the United States were employed in 2017.
- Approximately 26.0% of people with disabilities in the United States lived in poverty in 2017.
- There was a $12,000 gap in annual median earnings between people with and without disabilities in 2017.
- Approximately 24.3% of people with disabilities smoke, compared to 13.5% of people without disabilities.
- In 2017, people received $11.2 billion in annual benefits from Social Security Disability Insurance.
- Over 5.9 million students were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Act in 2016.
- There were over a half million applicants to state vocational rehabilitation agencies in 2015.
- In 2017 the minimum wage in the U.S. was $7.25 and the minimum wage was $11.5 in Washington, DC.
The StatsRRTC also released the 2018 Disability Statistics Annual Report, a companion volume of maps and charts that highlights trend data, and the 2018 Disability Statistics Compendium Supplement, which provides expanded tables which look at age, race and ethnicity, and more. To download these publications, visit www.DisabilityCompendium.org. For more information, contact us at Disability.Statistics@unh.edu or toll-free at 866-538-9521.
The Compendium is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), grant number 90RT5022-02-00. Key partners include Mathematica Policy Research, Kessler Foundation, Public Health Institute (PHI), American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR).
