Employment Situation and Poverty Risk of Disabled Persons in Austria and the EU

In the EU persons with health limitations and disabilities are not integrated equally into working life relative to persons without limitations and disabilities. According to the EU-SILC 2009 persons with health limitations and disabilities have an employment rate of 45.5 percent as an EU average, and 52.8 percent in Austria, compared to 69.4 percent for the non-limited and non-disabled as an EU average and 73.0 percent in Austria. Among severely limited persons the employment rate is considerably lower than that of individuals with less extensive health limitations. In particular older disabled persons and disabled women have very low employment rates. Persons with limitations and disabilities are more likely to be at risk of poverty than persons without health limitations. Across EU countries the employed disabled are less at risk of poverty than the non-employed disabled. The gap between at-risk-of-poverty rates is caused by deviations in the national employment rates, intensity of work (proportion of full- to part-time work), income from work, returns on wealth, pensions and social benefit payments. The lower than average level of education among the disabled could be an obstacle for their integration in the working life.