Disability Statistics Flashcards
What Percentage of the Population Has a Disability?
Estimates for the percentage of people with a disability range from about 10% to 20%, depending on the survey methodology, definition of the word “disability,” and other factors. This means that in a random group of 10 people worldwide, 1 or 2 of those people are likely to have a disability. That’s a minority, but it’s a rather sizable minority. Of the approximately 7 billion people on the planet, about 700 million to 1.4 billion have disabilities.
About ___% of the world population has a disability.
16%
Globally, about ___ people have a disability.
About 1.3 billion people have some form of disability.
Differences in How “Disability” is Defined
There are many different ways to define the concept of “disability” and the surveys used to collect disability statistics don’t all use the same definition. In fact, the definitions vary widely. Narrow definitions will result in smaller percentages of people reporting a disability. Broader definitions will result in larger percentages.
Differences in Data Collection Methods
Some surveys rely on individuals to report their own disabilities. Others rely on observations or data collection activities by the people administering the survey. These collection methods can cause wide variance in the results.
Also, if the purpose of the data collection is to determine whether a person is eligible for government benefits, people are more likely to report a disability than in other circumstances where reporting a disability may result in negative consequences or social stigma.
The wording of the questions on a survey also matters. If a survey simply asks, “Do you have a disability?” (or other similarly vague question), the results won’t be as accurate or as meaningful as the answers to more precise questions, such as, “Do you experience difficulty seeing text well enough to read it, even when wearing glasses?” Surveys can ask follow-up questions to get answers that are even more precise.
Political or Public Relations Biases
Sometimes a country or organization may be reluctant to report accurate numbers about people with disabilities because of a fear that the report will shine an unfavorable light on the situation. Under these circumstances it may be impossible to get accurate data until the fear has been addressed.
Comparing Statistics Across Countries
For all of these reasons, it is difficult to compare disability statistics across countries, or even across different surveys in the same country. Even so, we do have data about disabilities, and it is worthwhile to learn from the data of each study, even if it is difficult to compare the data across studies.
Disabilities Increase as We Get Older
Older people are more likely to have disabilities. Estimates range from about 30% to 60% of older populations, compared to 10%-20% for the population as a whole. Often, we acquire multiple disabilities as a natural part of the aging process. Many of us lose our sight, our hearing, our mobility, and/or our cognition. The combination of multiple disabilities can be challenging for the individuals, which underscores the importance of ensuring accessibility is built into the environment as much as possible.
Looking ahead in this digital age, adults who have spent much of their lives using digital technologies will expect to be able to continue using digital technologies even after acquiring disabilities. The market for accessible digital technologies is expected to increase as more technologically-savvy users age and acquire disabilities.
In countries with life expectancies over 70 years, how long on average do individuals spend living with disabilities?
In countries with life expectancies over 70 years, individuals spend on average about 8 years, or 11.5 per cent of their life span, living with disabilities.
Countries with large aging populations are likely to have a greater proportion of people with disabilities, all other things being equal. (Factors that could change this expected data trend would be poverty and war, which often cause disabilities in younger populations.)
Disability of Persons 65+ Worldwide
Percentage with Disability
Any Age: 10%
70+: 20%
85+: 50%
Disability by Age (New Zealand)
2013
Percentage with Disability
* Children under 15 years: 11%
* Adults under 65: 21%
* 65 or over: 59%
U.S. Population by Number of Disabilities (none-3) and Age:
65 and over
- None: 61.3%
- One: 15.9%
- Two: 8.0%
- Three or More: 14.7%
U.S. Population by Number of Disabilities and Age:
65 to 74
- None: 73.6%
- One: 13.9%
- Two: 5.5%
- Three or More: 7.0%
U.S. Population by Number of Disabilities and Age:
75 to 84
- None: 55.0%
- One: 18.7%
- Two: 9.8%
- Three or More: 16.5%
U.S. Population by Number of Disabilities and Age:
85 and over
- None: 27.5%
- One: 17.1%
- Two: 13.9%
- Three or More: 41.5%
