Disability and chronic disease

• Despite recent progress, labour market participation remains a challenge for people with disabilities – a fact 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. 
• Responses to protect people with disabilities against job loss during the pandemic have often been limited. To ensure that they are not left behind in the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, appropriate financial resources are needed to enable disability-inclusive solutions. 
• 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. 
• More high-quality data, broken down by disability type and comparable across the EU, are necessary to ensure the effective integration of people with disabilities into the labour market. Measures to support people with disabilities must also be systematically evaluated and the results fed back into policymaking.
• 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.

Drawing on data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) and the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), alongside other research, Eurofound has been examining access to and quality of social services for people with disabilities and chronic diseases, specifically in relation to the impact on employment opportunities and labour market integration. The research looks at the challenges facing this group and the policy approaches that could be explored. 

Latest research examines 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 COVID-19 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