Fewer Jobs, Greater Poverty

     Because of discrimination, people with disabilities have fewer employment opportunities and earn less on average than people without disabilities. As of 2012, 32.7 percent of disabled people ages 18 to 64 were employed, compared to 73.6 percent of people without disabilities, according to the Compendium. While the median income of Americans without disabilities ages 16 and over was almost $31,000, the median income of those with disabilities in the same age bracket was about $20 500. People with disabilities not only face a landscape of fewer jobs and lower pay, but also endure more poverty. The poverty rate of Americans without disabilities ages 18 to 64 was only 13.6 percent in comparison to a rate of over 29 percent for the same age group of Americans with disabilities.