Poverty and disability greatly correlated, new study shows

Matilda — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:55:54 +0000

© MCT News Service/Allentown Morning Call, Pennsylvania — Hard economic times are even harder when you have a disability. But poverty and disability don’t have to be synonymous if we design our policies well. A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (a Washington-based think tank) titled “Half in Ten” states that almost 50 percent of working-age adults who experience poverty for at least a 12-month period have one or more disabilities. People with disabilities, the report says, account for a larger share of those experiencing poverty than people in all other minority, ethnic and racial groups combined and are even a larger group than single parents. The extra costs associated with living with a disability such as purchasing expensive equipment like wheelchairs and catheters or obtaining specialized medical attention keep many disabled people and their families in poverty, the report notes…. READ ARTICLE

Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind » Half in Ten

Poverty and disability greatly correlated, new study shows