Living conditions and quality of life

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

Policy brief
Published
21 March 2022
Cover image for Eurofound's policy brief entitled 'People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey'
pdf
Formats and languages
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Autor(es): 
Ahrendt, Daphne

Principais conclusões

  • 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.
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  • 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.
  • The introduction of measures to mitigate the factors that lead to poor mental health will be crucial as the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social isolation restrictions have affected people with disabilities more than the population at large. There is an urgent need to improve access to mental healthcare services as a quarter of respondents with disabilities reported unmet medical needs in this area.
  • 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.
  • The European Pillar of Social Right Action Plan on the Social Economy, which aims to tap into the potential of the social economy and create quality jobs for fair, sustainable and inclusive growth, is also an opportunity to improve the situation of people with disabilities.
  • Improving the situation of people with disabilities requires a tailored approach. Actions to increase their sense of belonging, for instance, can help improve the well-being of young people with disabilities, whereas retired people benefit more from actions that reduce the risk of depression.
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Resumo

A new European Disability Strategy was launched in 2021 with the aim of intensifying progress on ensuring the full participation of people with  disabilities in society. The increase of EU policy focus on people with disabilities is timely: the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the challenges they faceRead more

A new European Disability Strategy was launched in 2021 with the aim of intensifying progress on ensuring the full participation of people with  disabilities in society. The increase of EU policy focus on people with disabilities is timely: the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the challenges they faced in many spheres of their lives.

This policy brief explores the situation of Europeans with disabilities during the pandemic. Using data from the third round of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, conducted in February–March 2021, it compares the situation of respondents with and without disabilities in four areas: access to healthcare, mental well-being, financial situation and optimism about the future. The analyses show that on all indicators the situation of people with disabilities was significantly worse.

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Formats and languages

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  • Relatório

    Cover image for Eurofound's policy brief entitled 'People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey'
    Número de páginas: 
    28
    N.º de referência: 
    EF22019
    ISBN: 
    978-92-897-2254-4
    N.º do catálogo: 
    TJ-AR-22-001-EN-N
    DOI: 
    10.2806/146029
    Permalink: 
    eurofound.link/ef22019
    Catalogue info

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

    Autor(es): 
    Ahrendt, Daphne
    Topics: 
    Serviços públicos; Psychosocial risks; Subjective well-being; Trust; Health and well-being at work; COVID-19; Disability and chronic disease; Condições e qualidade de vida

    Formatos

    Cite esta publicação: 

    Eurofound (2022), People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, COVID-19 series, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

  • Tables and graphs

    The policy brief contains the following tables and figures.

    List of tables

    • Table 1: Reasons for unmet healthcare needs, respondents with and without disabilities compared, EU27
    • Table 2: Trust in the healthcare system during the pandemic (mean scores), respondents with and without disabilities compared, EU27
    • Table 3: Difficulty making ends meet (%), by employment contract type, respondents with and without disabilities compared, EU27
    • Table 4: Arrears among respondents with and without disabilities (%), by type of arrears and employment status, EU27
    • Table 5: Percentage of respondents with disabilities in arrears (%), by type of arrears, EU27
    • Table 6: Gap between respondents with and without disabilities (percentage points), by type of arrears, EU27

    List of figures

    • Figure 1: Unmet healthcare needs of respondents with and without disabilities (%), EU27
    • Figure 2: Unmet healthcare needs, EU27
    • Figure 3: Unmet healthcare needs (%), by type of healthcare, respondents with and without disabilities compared, EU27
    • Figure 4: Trust in the healthcare system, EU27
    • Figure 5: Risk of depression, EU27
    • Figure 6: Self-reported loneliness, EU27
    • Figure 7: Feeling left out of society, EU27
    • Figure 8: Difficulty making ends meet, EU27
    • Figure 9: Able to maintain standard of living without an income for no more than 3 months, EU27
    • Figure 10: Proportion reporting arrears (%), by type of arrears, respondents with and without disabilities compared, EU27
    • Figure 11: Optimism about one’s future, EU27

A investigação realizada antes da saída do Reino Unido da União Europeia, em 31 de janeiro de 2020, e posteriormente publicada, pode incluir dados relativos aos 28 Estados-Membros da UE. Após esta data, a investigação apenas tem em conta os 27 Estados-Membros da UE (UE28 menos o Reino Unido), salvo especificação em contrário.

Part of the series

  • COVID-19

    Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.

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