Disability and chronic disease

• Poor mental health affects a large proportion of people with disabilities and requires urgent attention to reduce the widespread risk of depression among this group of citizens.
• People with disabilities report more difficulty in making ends meet, greater financial fragility and higher arrears than people without disabilities. Boosting their labour market participation is critical to address this large gap in financial situation.
  • Policy brief: People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey
• Labour market participation remains a challenge for people with disabilities – and this was compounded by COVID-19. A variety of obstacles – ranging from disability-related stereotypes to a lack of a strategic vision in governance – make employment in the open labour market more difficult for people with disabilities. 
• Labour market support measures must take account of disability and tailor policy responses to support the inclusion of people with disabilities in employment. All actors – governments, employers and NGOs representing the voices of people with disabilities – play an important role in the provision of support. 
• While supporting and promoting the labour market participation of people with disabilities is crucial, adequate and inclusive social protection mechanisms also need to be put in place to ensure support is available for all people with disabilities, irrespective of their employment status.
  • Report: Disability and labour market integration: Policy trends and support in EU Member States
• Health and income inequality are closely linked, with people in the lowest income quintile almost three times as likely to have a disability as people in the top 20%. During the pandemic, inequality in access to health services by income also increased: in 2020, the risk of having an unmet medical need for people in the lowest income quintile was 5.4 times higher than those in the top 20%, highlighting how policies focusing on reducing income inequalities can also reduce health inequalities.
  • Report: Economic and social inequalities in Europe in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic

Drawing on data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) and the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), alongside other research, Eurofound studies the inequalities and challenges people with disabilities face and the policy approaches that could be explored. 

Data from the Living and working in the EU e-survey puts light on the situation of people with disabilities during the pandemic, comparing their situation in relation to access to healthcare, mental well-being, financial situation and optimism about the future. 

Publication: People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey

Research also examines the policy developments in EU Member States aimed at supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities in the open labour market, with a particular focus on the three stages of entering into employment, staying in the job and returning to work after an absence. It explores the mechanisms and effectiveness of policy measures in place before the pandemic, and provides an updated analysis of early policy measures created in the wake of the pandemic. 

Other research has covered a range of topics: 

• Long-term care workforce, mapping the working conditions and the nature of employment and role of collective bargaining in the sector, and highlighting the importance of the workforce in improving the quality of life and employment prospects of older people and people with disabilities
• Access to care services such as early childhood education and care, healthcare and long-term care, covers the issue of access to these services for people with disabilities and also focuses on early childhood education and care for children with disabilities and special educational needs
• How to respond to chronic health problems in the workplace, examining the prevalence of chronic disease, the impact on ability to work, the extent that workplaces are making adjustments for workers and the effect of that on job quality and sustainability of work 
• Social and employment situation of people with disabilities, looking at changes over time in employment, education and training, participation in society, social protection and healthcare, all priority areas of the European Disability Strategy
• Employment opportunities for economically inactive people, who find it difficult to enter or re-enter the labour market and the reasons why
• Employment opportunities for people with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and mental health problems
• Active inclusion of young people with disabilities or health problems, a group facing particular difficulties in accessing employment, with an emphasis on assessing the implementation of active inclusion policy at national level