Affiliations: Cornell University Institute for Policy Research
Washington, DC 20008, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Ann E. Horvath-Rose, Ph.D, Cornell
University Institute for Policy Research, 4301 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite 330,
Washington, DC 20008, USA. Tel.: +1 202 719 7835; Fax: +1 202 719 7878; E-mail:
aeh8@cornell.edu
Abstract: This paper uses the Current Population Survey (CPS) from 1981–2000
to compare long-term trends in socio-economic outcomes for youth (aged 15–21)
and young adults (aged 22–29) with work limitations to those for youth and
young adults without work limitations. We focus on the years 1988 and 1999:
years that roughly correspond to the peaks of successive business cycles. We
find that prevalence of work limitations declined for males but increased for
females, mostly accounted for by growth for African American females. Despite a
substantial reduction in the educational attainment gap between young adults
with and without disabilities, gaps in employment, earnings, dependency on
public programs and poverty widened substantially. These trends could be due to
factors that determine whether individuals report themselves to be
work-limited, factors that affect individual outcomes regardless of
self-reported work limitation status, or both sets of factors.
Keywords: disability, work limitations, trends, demographics, employment, income
