Comparison indicators · 2003. 5. 22. · 19 Comparison between disabled and non-disabled populations without disabilities, regardless of sex. As of that age a large change occurs

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Comparison between disabled and non-disabled populations

Comparison

indicators

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Introduction

Disabled persons constitute a significantproportion of the population. This is a sectorof society who have to confront a variety ofobstacles which prevent them achieving asituation of equal opportunity, independenceand full social integration. The integration ofdisabled persons must be converted into themain objective of any group and therefore itis necessary to establish the necessaryconditions to achieve this. The specificobjectives to be achieved are: eliminating thephysical and psychological barriers,facilitating access to general education andquality training and supporting the entranceof the disabled group into the labour market.

One of the objectives of the Survey onDisabilities, Impairments and State of Healthis to contribute essential information to de-termine the existing socio-health differencesbetween the disabled and those who do notsuffer from any disability.

The goal of this chapter is to fulfil thisobjective, supplying indicators onemployment, education, possibility of accessto aid, etc.

Indicators that are presented here follow theproject recommendations "Indicators onintegration of disabled persons into sociallife" carried out by ISTAT (Italian StatisticalInstitute) at the request of the EuropeanCommission.

1. Percentage of people married or living

with a partner

This indicator offers information on variousdifferent aspects, according to the age bracketobserved. For example, for the youngest ages,the percentage of married people gives anapproximation of the equality of opportunitiesbetween people with and without disabilitiesmarrying. For older ages, marriages implicitlymeans cohabiting with somebody who isable to provide the necessary help for theperson with disabilities.

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Graph 1.1 indicates that persons withoutdisabilities show a higher percentage ofcohabitation at all ages. In both groups,disabled and not disabled, the age group withthe highest prevalence is from 40 to 59 yearsold. However, graph 1.2 shows differencesbetween men and women. While womenverify the mentioned guidelines, the linewhich represents men continues to ascendin the last age group (in the case of thedisabled) or it remains almost constant(among men with disabilities). 73% of womenwith disabilities between 40 and 59 years oldare married as opposed to 40% of those 60years old and over. Therefore, 60% of disabledwomen 60 years old and over who need theassistance of some person will need to resortto other surrounding family members, socialservices, neighbours or friends.

Among disabled men 40 to 59 years old, thepercentage married is 72% and grows to 77%among men 60 years old and over. Thisdifference with respect to women is in largepart due to the number of widows growingincreasingly in relation to widowers. In otherwords, there is a significant decrease amongwomen in the group of married persons.

Graph 1.3 also shows the difference betweenmen and women. Women with disabilitieslose their equal position with age compared

to women without disabilities. Amongwomen from 20 to 59 years old the ratiobetween the percentage of disabled marriedwomen and those not disabled isapproximately 0,85, in other words, theprobability of disabled women being marriedis 15% less than for those not disabled. Inthe 60 years old and over group, theprobability of being married is 31% less (theratio goes down to 0,69); this decrease is duein part to the aging of the disabled populationand, therefore, there exists a higherpercentage of widows.

Among men the reverse effect occurs, theirsituation with respect to marriage, becomescloser with age to that of men withoutdisabilities. The ratio changes from 0,62 inthe 20 to 39 years old group, to a ratio of 0,91among men 60 years old and over, in otherwords, older disabled men are 9% less likelyto be married than men without disabilities.

2. Percentage of persons living alone

The indicator of the percentage of people li-ving alone is another information source onthe degree of assistance necessary for aperson. Elderly disabled persons can livealone because of a coming together of variouscircumstances: light or moderate severity oftheir disability, which allows them to be acti-ve though with difficulty; the receipt ofassistance, both technical (canes, prosthesis,specialised instruments, customisedbathrooms...) as well as personal (providedby family members residing in anotherdwelling, neighbours, social services...); thetype of disability (in the area of Daily LifeActivities, those of self care are fundamentalfor the person and, therefore, receivingpermanent assistance is essential when theperson cannot carry them out, however thereare other disabilities that can be resolvedmore easily).

The percentage of people living aloneremains fairly low until 59 years of age, bothfor disabled persons and for persons

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without disabilities, regardless of sex. Asof that age a large change occurs. Thepercentage of persons living alone rises inboth groups, but the fact that stands out themost is the radical difference between menand women. In the 60 to 79 year old group,while 23% of disabled women and 16,5%of those not disabled live alone, among menthese figures decrease to 8% and 5%respectively. As of 80 years of age thedifferences increase, the strongest increaseis noticed among the group withoutdisabilities, due to the large increase thatoccurs in the percentage of women that livealone, increasing from 16,5% among 60 to79 years old to 32% among women over 80years old.

Graph 2.2 indicates that the percentage ofpersons from 40 to 59 years old living aloneis more than double among disabledpersons than that among persons withoutdisabilities. In the group from 60 to 79 yearsold, is 50% higher among the disabledpopulation and decreases until it is eveninferior, by 6%, among those over 80 yearsold. Considering the population of all agesgroups, the proportion of disabled persons

that live alone is three times greater thanthat of those without disabilities (the ratioid 2 when referring to men).

This indicator is closely related with the oneon married persons. Some of the personswho do not marry end up living alone. Amongthe disabled population, the percentage ofpersons that live alone represent a proportionof the persons that are not married, greaterthan in the case of the population withoutdisabilities.

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3. Percentages of literacy and illiteracy

This indicator has been calculated,standardised by the Spanish population of10 years old and over, according to age andsex.

The general populations literacy rate ispractically total among early ages, thesegroups having lived an almost completeschooling situation. Among advanced ages,this percentage goes down to 89,4% (93%among men and 86,8% among women).

Graph 3.1 shows the literacy percentages ofboth the population with and withoutdisabilities at different ages. In the group ofthose without disabilities the guideline coin-cides with that of the general population, inother words, the higher the age, the lowerthe literacy percentage. 99,85% of men and99,79% of women from 10 to 44 years of ageand are not disabled know how to read andwrite as opposed to 93,90% and 89,27% ofmen and women that are 65 years old andover.

In the case of the disabled population, thesituation changes considerably. Disabledpersons between 10 and 44 years old, notonly have lower rates of illiteracy (87,45%)than persons of the same age without

disabilities (99,82%), but they also do notreach the levels of persons withoutdisabilities over 65 years old (91,35%).

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With respect to the illiterate population, whenonly illiterate disabled persons, that couldlearn without a problem (illiterate for otherreasons) are considered, it is observed thatthey have higher rates of illiteracy than thegeneral population though they follow thesame guidelines: the persons with the highestincidence of illiteracy are the oldest ones,with practically no illiteracy among theyounger ages. Effectively, graphs 3.2 and 3.3indicate that the proportion of disabledpersons that are illiterate despite being ableto learn to read and write is greater at moreadvanced ages, ranging in men from 0,76%among the youngest to 9,21% in the elderly;and from 1,0% of young women to 17,29% inthe elderly.

As far as those persons that cannot learn toread or write due to physical or psychologicalproblems, the highest percentages observedcorrespond to the youngest persons. Of each100 disabled men from 10 to 44 years old,12,7 are illiterate and of those 12 are illiteratebecause of physical or psychologicalproblems. In the case of those over 65 yearsold, the contrary occurs, of each 100 disabledmen, 9,7 are illiterate and of those 0,5 areilliterate because of psychological or physicalproblems. The same norm is observed amongwomen.

4. Percentage of persons with

secondary or higher education

This indicator has been calculated,standardised by the Spanish population of18 years old and over, according to age andsex.

Secondary or Higher Education areconsidered as the levels of Second cycle ofgeneral secondary education, Higherprofessional education and University orequivalent studies for the calculation.

This indicator offers information on thequalification level of disabled persons andtheir comparison with the rest of thepopulation. A level of secondary studiesconstitutes a training guarantee so that a

person has more options to find work oraccess higher education levels. This is still apriority in the case of disabled persons.

There are various factors that maintain theeducational differences in force between thetwo groups that are covered. One of them isthat effect that disability exerts on the capacityof a person to finish their studies. It isobvious that not all disabilities influenceequally on the possibility of reaching a certainlevel of studies. Disabilities that affectlearning capacity (mental dysfunction,auditory, visual, communication disabilities)imply added difficulty for learning. Anotherfundamental factor refers to the educationaland social integration of disabled persons.Each one of these complements will have toimply the development of the lines to followto ensure that the disabled populationacquires an educational level similar to thenon-disabled population.

12% of disabled persons have finishedsecondary or higher education, as opposedto 30% of persons without disabilities, inother words, the probability that a disabledperson has this level of studies is 59% lessthan non-disabled persons.

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In both groups it is observed that educationallevels are higher in younger generations.Although in the last few decades thepopulation has improved due to the massiveincorporation of young generations into theeducation system, there are still important ageand sex differences among both disabled andnon-disabled persons. 44% of people from18 to 44 without disabilities have finishedsecondary or higher education (41% in thecase of men and 46% of women); the disabledpopulation at these same ages only presents18% in both sexes, 16% in men and 21% inwomen.

People from 45 to 64 correspond tointermediate generations in which the levelof secondary or higher studies is reached by21% of people without disabilities and by 8%if they have disabilities. Those older than 65are those who present less percentage ofsecondary and higher studies, 9% if theyinvolve people without disabilities and 4% ifthey have disabilities. Such low values arelogical since it is at these ages that the highestpercentages of illiteracy, people withoutstudies and with primary studies areconcentrated.

Although the level of studies in the generalpopulation has improved the differencesbetween disabled and non-disabled has notreduced. In graph 4.2 it can be observed thatdisabled persons have a 59% less probabilityof having secondary and higher studies thannon-disabled persons (ratio 0,41 for bothsexes for all ages). The greatest difference isfound among women 45 to 64 as disabledwomen at these ages have a probability 63%less than non-disabled women.

5. Employment and unemployment

rates in the population from 16 and

64 years old

This indicator has been calculated,standardised by the Spanish population from16 years old to 64, according to age and sex.

Access to the labour market and labourintegration, together with education are someof the fundamental factors to achieve socialintegration of disabled persons. Anappropriate training helps to alleviate thesituation of disadvantages in the labourmarket, although the different types ofdisabilities, physical, sensory andpsychological, imply different degrees ofcomplexity when accessing a job.

One of the basic priorities of disabled personsof an active age is to become employed,whether it be ordinary, with or withoutsupport or protected.

Non-disabled persons 16 to 64 presentemployment rates which are higher thandisabled persons (55% compared with 26%).When broken down by age and sex it isobserved that non-disabled persons 25 to 44are those that have a significantly higheremployment rate, 85%. Non-disabled womenat these ages are 52%. As age increases theemployment rate reduces up to 75% in menand 29% in women.

Among disabled persons, the unemploymentrate for men is 33% and for women it is 19%.The highest rate is that attained by men from25 to 44 years old, 39%, and the lowest isthat of women from 45 to 64 years old, 14%.

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Graph 5.2 summarises these inequalitiesbetween disabled and non-disabled persons.The greatest difference between both groups,referring to employment is presented bydisabled men 45 to 64 who have 59% less

probability of working than those who do nothave disabilities; in the case of women, theyare also at these ages, who have greaterdisadvantage compared with non-disabledwomen with a difference of 54%.

If we deal with the differences between menand women, the disabled population behavespractically the same as the non-disabledpopulation (graph 5.3). In the disabled groupthere exist lesser gender differences since theprobability of a woman working is 58% thatfor a man. This value in the non-disabledpopulation is 54%. However, the non-disabledgroup presents greater variability since instudying the gender differences bearing inmind age, the most and least favoured groupscan be found. Non-disabled women 16 to 24are those that present lesser differences thanmen, the ratio of women to men is 0,69compared with 0,61 for disabled women. Inthe 45 to 64 age group without disabilitiesthe ratio is 0,39. In other words, theprobability of women working is up to 61%less than in men of the same age (56% fordisabled persons).

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The unemployment rate has the oppositecharacteristic to the employment rate. In ge-neral, disabled persons have anunemployment rate which is greater than thatfor non-disabled persons. Graph 5.4 indicatesthat disabled women are those who are worseoff, although as age increases theunemployment rate decreases, going from45% in women 16- 24 to 25% in the 45 to 64age group. The fact that disabled men wereon the same level with non-disabled womenwith a general unemployment rate around24% is worthy of note. Non-disabled men arebest situated with an unemployment rate of12% who range from 24% in young people16 to 24 and 9% in those 45 to 64.

Graph 5.5 shows that the disabled groupunemployment rate is 77% per cent greaterthan the non-disabled group. Althoughdisabled women present higherunemployment rates, the greater differenceamong people with and without disabilitiesis in men, as for disabled persons theprobability of being unemployed is somewhatmore than for non-disabled persons. Theprobability of disabled women beingunemployed is 59% greater than those notdisabled.

On employment and unemployment, thereare historical gender differences. Graphs 5.3and 5.6 offer an idea of how disability affectsthese differences in men and women. Withrespect to the employment rate, theprobability of disabled women working is58% that of disabled men. This value in thenon-disabled population is 54%.

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As with employment significant differenceswhich refer to gender differences can hardlybe appreciated between the disabled andnon-disabled groups. For unemploymentdifferent behaviours are observed. In the non-disabled population women have nearly twicethe probability of being unemployed than men(the ratio between the sexes is 1,97). However,disabled women have a greater disadvantagethan men where the probability of beingunemployed is 55% greater than for men. Foryounger women, the probability is 28%greater than for men.

Another point of divergence between personswith and without disabilities occurs in theactivity rates, these being of 32,3% and 66,2%respectively.

6. Percentage of households with

disabled persons.

In 23,19% of the more than 12,5 millionSpanish households there is at least oneperson disabled. While households areclassified by their size, there is a differentproportion of households with disabledpersons. The highest values are found inhouseholds with 6 or more members and inthose of 2 members, including disabledpersons 32,20% and 30,33% respectively. Thelowest value is observed in 4 memberhouseholds. Just 14,70% of these householdshave a disabled person. There is a logicalrelationship between this and the fact that therate of prevalence of disability is greater inpersons of advancing years. A large numberof households with 6 or more members willinclude elderly people as well as manyhouseholds with 2 members made up of anelderly couple.

Households with disabled persons andwithout disabled persons do not have thesame distribution as to the size of thehousehold. The most predominant size forhouseholds with disabled persons is two,followed by households with 3,1 and 4members. Households without disabledpersons are those of 4 components, followedby those households made up of 3 and 2

people. Unipersonal households are slightlymore frequent among the disabledpopulation.

Graph 6.3 shows that 23,19% of householdswith disabled persons is made up ofhouseholds with one disabled person(19,21%), households where two disabledpersons live (3,69%) and households withthree or more disabled persons (0,29%)

The majority of households with disabledpersons only have one disabled persons(82,83%) (graph 6.4). However, differences areobserved according to the size of thehousehold. In 23,13% of 2 memberhouseholds, both people are disabled. Innearly 20% of 3 member households where

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there is a disabled person, there are 2 or 3disabled. In 4 member households with onedisabled person, the percentage of those whohave at least two disabled persons is 16,57%.Finally, in households with 6 or moremembers, somewhat more than 4% includes3 or more disabled persons and nearly 25%2 or more. Therefore, it is observed that thereis a significant percentage of householdswhere more than one member is disabled,although generally only one per householdis found.

35,34% of Spanish households have at leastone person 65 and over (table 6.1). Thispercentage converts to 60,75% in householdswith at least one disabled person, reflectingonce more the high prevalence of disabilityamong the elderly population. 50,90% ofunipersonal households without disabilityare made up of one person 65 and over.However, in 86,17% if unipersonal householdswith disability, the person is 65 and over.

According to graph 6.5, 39,85% of Spanishhouseholds with a person 65 and over has atleast one person 65 and over with disabilities.This proportion does not alter much whenconsidering the different sizes of thehousehold, varying from 36,65% inhouseholds of 3 members to 43,66% in thesix or more members.

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In households with people 65 and oversignificant differences are not observedbetween households with and withoutdisabled persons with respect to the size ofthe household (graph 6.6). The most frequenttype of household in both cases is that madeup of two people, representing 40,48% ofhouseholds with disabilities and 37,45% ofthose who do not have disabilities, followedby households with one person. Theseconstitute around 24% in both groups.

If households with disabled persons 65 orover is compared with the total householdswho have disabled persons while differencescan be appreciated in the distribution by size

of household (graph 6.7). In both caseshouseholds with more weight are those of 2members although in those where there areelderly people this means 40,48% ofhouseholds, compared with 32,08% of thetotal households with disabled persons. Thenext most frequent size of household is, inthe case of those over 65, the household withone person. For the total of households,however, those with 3 members are morefrequent.

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The distribution of households according tothe number of disabled 65 years old or overis shown in graph 6.8. One disabled personof 65 years old or over lives in 34,14% of thetotal households with persons 65 years oldor over. In 5,61%, 2 elderly disabled, and only0,11 have 3 or more.

If only households with disabled persons areclassified the percentages are those thatfeature in table 6.2. In 85,65% of thehouseholds with disabled persons 65 andover, there is just one disabled person of thisage. However, differences are observedaccording to the size of the household. In22,10% of households with 2 members wherethere is a disabled person 65 and over bothpeople have disability and are 65 or over. Inthe case of households with 5 members witha disabled person 65 and over, only 8,90% ofthem have 2 or more elderly disabledpersons.

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Comparison indicators · 2003. 5. 22. · 19 Comparison between disabled and non-disabled populations without disabilities, regardless of sex. As of that age a large change occurs