Affiliations: Department of Politics and International Relations,
University of Leicester, Leicester, UK | Visual Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research,
School of Education University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Graeme Douglas, Visual Impairment
Centre for Teaching and Research, School of Education, University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Tel.: +44 121 414 6736; E-mail:
g.g.a.douglas@bham.ac.uk
Abstract: Objectives: To analyze which factors affect the probability of
people registered as blind and visually impaired in Britain being in paid
employment. Participants: Consist of 559 registered individuals of
working age with a visual impairment. This sub-sample is drawn from the first
wave of a larger, nationally-representative survey of adults who are blind and
visually impaired in Britain. Methods: After examining descriptive
statistics for employment status and key analysis variables, a multivariate
analysis is undertaken to assess the relative impact of: demographic and
household characteristics, socio-economic status, aspects of visual impairment,
including severity and age of onset, and presence of additional disabilities. Results: Educational attainment, housing tenure, registration status (as
blind or visually impaired) and having additional disabilities have the
strongest impact on the likelihood of an individual registered as visually
impaired being in work. Conclusions: The findings underline the need to
examine the varying labor market experiences of groups with different types of
disability and the importance of assessing the individual effects of severity
of visual impairment, age of onset, and presence of additional disabilities.
