DISABILITY MATTERS Unequal Treatment and the Status of People with Disabilities in New York City and New York State
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Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York CID••NY DISABILITY MATTERS Unequal Treatment and the Status of People with Disabilities in New York City and New York State Manhattan CIDNY 841 Broadway, Room 301 New York, NY 10003 212-674-2300 (tel) 212-254-5953 (fax) 212-674-5619 (TTY) Queens CIDNY-Queens 137-02A Northern Boulevard Flushing, Queens 11354 646-442-1520 (tel) 718-886-0428 (fax) 718-886-0427 (TTY) www.cidny.org Forward and Recommendations by Susan M. Dooha, J.D. A United Way Agency Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York CID••NY Data prepared for CIDNY by Andrew J. Houtenville, Ph.D. and Marc Flore, M.A. University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability With support from the Hunter College Rehabilitation and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC) June 2011 The StatsRRTC at Hunter College is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR, Grant No. H133B080012). The contents of this report do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar, 75.620 (b)). Design and layout by Carolyn Casey, [email protected] PTableopulation of Contents Size and Prevalence Rate Forward ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Key Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 4 THE DATA: Source, Methodology and Findings ............................................................................................. 5 Disability Prevalence ............................................................................................................................ 7 All Ages ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Children Ages 5-17 ...................................................................................................................... 9 Young Adults Ages 18-34 ....................................................................................................... 11 Adults Ages 35-64 ..................................................................................................................... 13 Adults Ages 65-74 ..................................................................................................................... 15 Adults Ages 75 and older ....................................................................................................... 17 Diversity ................................................................................................................................................... 19 Hispanic ......................................................................................................................................... 20 White .............................................................................................................................................. 22 African-American ........................................................................................................................ 24 Asian ............................................................................................................................................... 26 Other Race ................................................................................................................................... 28 Type of Disabilities ............................................................................................................................ 30 Hearing ........................................................................................................................................... 31 Vision .............................................................................................................................................. 33 Cognitive ....................................................................................................................................... 35 Ambulatory .................................................................................................................................. 37 Self-Care Difficulties ................................................................................................................ 39 Independent Living Difficulties ........................................................................................... 41 Education ................................................................................................................................................ 43 High School Diploma or Equivalent .................................................................................. 44 Bachelor’s Degree or More ................................................................................................... 46 Employment ........................................................................................................................................... 48 Employment and Poverty ................................................................................................................ 51 Household Income .............................................................................................................................. 52 Health Insurance ................................................................................................................................. 55 Private Health Insurance ........................................................................................................ 58 Food Stamps/SNAP ........................................................................................................................... 59 Poverty ..................................................................................................................................................... 62 Addressing Disparities: Our Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 65 Education ................................................................................................................................................ 66 Employment ........................................................................................................................................... 67 Food Stamps/SNAP ........................................................................................................................... 68 Poverty ..................................................................................................................................................... 68 Health Coverage .................................................................................................................................. 69 About CIDNY .............................................................................................................................................. 71 New York State Tables by County .............................................................................................. 72 2 Forward Disabilities are normal. Having a disability is something most of us can look forward to as a part of birth, accident, disease, environmental hazard or simply the process of aging. People with disabilities are young and old. We are of all races and ethnicities. We live in every community. Our disabilities may be evident or invisible. We are a heterogeneous community—but what we have in common is that we experience barriers, physical, communications-related or attitudinal, that impede our access to what life has to offer. It is in everyone’s interest to take down these barriers. It was hoped that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—the federal civil rights law for people with disabilities—would significantly improve the lives of people with disabilities. In many respects it has. The ADA and other laws and policies have increased community integration, access to mainstream education, transportation and civic participation. Despite advances in law and policy, the fact is that our disabilities still determine our economic status. The economic status of people with disabilities lags well behind that of people without disabilities. We are far more likely to have limited educational attainment, be unemployed or working for lower pay with less job security and less access to employer-based health coverage. We are more likely to be hungry and impoverished than our non-disabled counterparts and rely on food and health safety-net programs for survival. The disability- based inequalities identified in this report show a remarkable consistency throughout New York City’s boroughs and across the State. In the past 20 years, advocates, elected officials, businesses, community-based agencies and foundations have all contributed to the advances made in access for people with disabilities. At the same time, the problem of disability-based disparities in access and outcomes has consequences for our State and City that have not been fully explored or addressed. Each of us has something to contribute in developing interventions that can eliminate these persistent inequalities. Together we can make sure that disparities based on disability are eliminated through fostering innovative programs at the community level. We collaborated with StatsRRTC to review data