(Press-News.org) East Hanover, NJ – March 1, 2023. In this month’s nTIDE Deeper Dive Lunch & Learn Webinar we explored the factors underlying the unprecedented rise in the employment of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to follow trends in the labor market. This webinar followed two key unemployment indicators–the number unemployed and the proportions of unemployed persons that are on temporary layoffs (i.e., furloughs), comparing trends for people with and without disabilities.
“In January, we saw a large increase in the proportion of unemployed people with disabilities who are on furlough, which went from 6 percent to 17 percent, a level we haven’t seen since February 2021,” said nTIDE expert Andrew Houtenville, PhD, professor of economics at the University of Hampshire (UNH) and research director of the UNH Institute on Disability. “There was a similar increase for people without disabilities, although the increase started several months ago, from 8 percent in September 2022 to 18 percent in January 2023,” he added.
“We saw a large rise in the use of furloughing during the COVID-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020, so why are we seeing this increase in furloughing now? It may reflect a seasonal effect or companies facing supply-chain issues attempting to keep contact with existing employees that they currently can utilize,” noted Dr. Houtenville. “We want to see people with disabilities maintain their recent momentum in the labor market, so we will be following these indicators closely,” he emphasized, “and taking a deeper dive into the factors that are contributing to their recent successes.”
Deeper Dive into Historic Highs
“It's important to note how the pandemic lockdown dramatically altered the landscape for jobseekers with disabilities,” Dr. Houtenville remarked. “Although jobs declined for people with and without disabilities during lockdown, people with disabilities have recovered from those losses – and recovered at historic highs,” he continued. “Their job numbers have grown – not only beyond their pre-pandemic levels – but beyond their 2008 pre-Great Recession levels as well. The question we are all asking is: How they have achieved these impressive gains when people without disabilities have yet to hit their pre-COVID peak?”
Ari Ne’eman, our guest speaker during the recent nTIDE Deeper Dive Webinar, explored some of the contributing factors. Ne’eman is senior research associate at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, a visiting scholar at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University, and co-author of the paper “How Has COVID Impacted Disability Employment?” (doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101429) recently published in the Disability and Health Journal.
“There have been many more gains for people with disabilities,” confirmed Ne’eman, “and these have been driven by increased labor force participation, especially in telework jobs.” The shift to telework during the pandemic lockdown in many instances became the norm – and people with disabilities are more likely to succeed in this area, according to Ne’eman. “We are seeing a much faster rate of growth for people with disabilities in teleworkable jobs as compared to non-teleworkable jobs.”
“The labor force participation rate has grown dramatically, possibly from people with disabilities previously not in the labor force who are now entering it,” Ne’eman said, adding, “The ongoing tight labor market may be contributing to the rise in their participation.”
Long COVID may be another factor in the increase in workers with disabilities, according to Ne’eman. Workers newly disabled by long COVID are retaining their employment, adding to the population of workers with disabilities.
These theories are consistent with findings from the 2022 Kessler Foundation National Employment & Disability Survey: Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Supervisor Perspectives. “Compared with our 2017 survey, we found big shifts to remote work, flexible hours, and job sharing in 2022, and the majority of supervisors felt these changes would be maintained. Also in 2022, 40% of supervisors reported having employees with lasting effects of COVID-19, and 58% of those supervisors reported that these employees received accommodations,” recounted Dr. Houtenville, a survey co-author.
Ask Questions about Disability and Employment
The mid-month nTIDE Deeper Dive Lunch & Learn is broadcast live via Zoom Webinar from 12 PM to 1 PM Eastern by nTIDE experts with invited guests. As economic conditions continue to evolve, the nTIDE Deeper Dive will expand to cover disability employment measures for different sub-populations, including age, education, race, and disability type.
Register for our upcoming nTIDE webinars on March 10 and March 24, 2023 at: ResearchonDisability.org/nTIDE, where you will also find the nTIDE archives.
About the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire
The Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) was established in 1987 to provide a university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. For information on the NIDILRR-funded Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics, visit ResearchOnDisability.org.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research. Our scientists seek to improve cognition, mobility, and long-term outcomes, including employment, for adults and children with neurological and developmental disabilities of the brain and spinal cord including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and autism. Kessler Foundation also leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
For more information, contact:
Deb Hauss, senior staff writer, 973.324.8372, DHauss@KesslerFoundation.org
Carolann Murphy, senior medical writer, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
Stay Connected with Kessler Foundation
Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | iTunes & SoundCloud
END
nTIDE February 2023 Deeper Dive: What’s driving historic highs for employment of people with disabilities?
National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) – issued semi-monthly by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire
2023-03-01
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study forecasts tile drainage and crop rotation changes for nitrogen loss
2023-03-01
URBANA, Ill. – Midwestern agriculture contributes the vast majority of nitrogen in the Gulf of Mexico, causing an oxygen-starved hypoxic zone and challenging coastal economies. State and federal policies have tried for decades to provide solutions and incentives, but the hypoxic zone keeps coming back. A recent study from the University of Illinois offers a new way to understand Midwestern nitrogen dynamics and forecasts future nitrogen loads under various management scenarios across the region.
“Our model explains what's going on across 83 watersheds in the Midwest, providing a quantitative understanding of why certain watersheds ...
Vilcek Foundation announces open call for $150,000 in prizes to immigrant scientists
2023-03-01
In 2024, the Vilcek Foundation will award three Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science of $50,000 each. The prizes recognize and celebrate the contributions of rising immigrant scientists in the United States whose work represents a significant contribution to their field. The Vilcek Foundation is hosting an open call for applications for the 2024 prizes; applications will be accepted through June 12, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are a part of the Vilcek Foundation Prizes program. Awarded ...
Through the eye of the beholder: Researchers find people with autism process illusory shapes differently
2023-03-01
There is this picture – you may have seen it. It is black and white and has two silhouettes facing one another. Or maybe you see the black vase with a white background. But now, you likely see both.
It is an example of a visual illusion that reminds us to consider what we did not see at first glance, what we may not be able to see, or what our experience has taught us to know – there is always more to the picture or maybe even a different image to consider altogether. Researchers are finding the process in our brain that allows us to see these visual distinctions may ...
Mulching time of forest meadows influences insect diversity
2023-03-01
Mulching is a possible management method for forest meadows and is important to their upkeep. During the process, the meadow is cut and the cuttings are shredded and left on the meadow. Despite its significance, the effects of this method on insects living in this habitat has rarely been studied up to now. Dr. Maria M. Georgi of the team working with the head of the University of Freiburg’s Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology – Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein, and her colleagues studied this in-depth. The result: ...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bacteria produce a molecule that paralyzes immune system cells
2023-03-01
Bacteria of the species Pseudomonas aeruginosa are antibiotic-resistant hospital germs that can enter blood, lungs and other tissues through wounds and cause life-threatening infections. In a joint project, researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg in France have discovered a mechanism that likely contributes to the severity of P. aeruginosa infections. At the same time, it could be a target for future treatments. The results were recently appeared in the journal EMBO Reports.
Many bacterial species use sugar-binding molecules called lectins to attach to and invade host cells. Lectins can also influence the immune response to bacterial infections. However, these ...
Ice Age survivors
2023-03-01
The team analysed the genomes of 356 prehistoric hunter gatherers from different archaeological cultures – including new data sets of 116 individuals from 14 different European and Central Asian countries. Modern humans began to spread across Eurasia around 45,000 years ago but previous research showed that the first modern humans that arrived in Europe did not contribute to later populations. This study focuses on the people who lived between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago and that are, at least partially, the ancestors of the present-day population of Western Eurasia, including – for the first time – the genomes of people who lived during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the ...
Deforestation in the tropics linked to a reduction in rainfall
2023-03-01
Projected deforestation in the Congo could result in a 12% reduction in rainfall
Study provides “compelling evidence” to protect forests
Deforestation is resulting in reduced rainfall across large parts of the tropics, according to new research.
People living in tropical forest communities have often complained that the climate gets hotter and drier once trees are cleared but until now, scientists have not been able to identify a clear link between the loss of tree cover and a decline in rainfall.
A research team at the University of Leeds combined satellite data of deforestation and rainfall to show ...
Quantum chemistry: Molecules caught tunneling
2023-03-01
Tunneling reactions in chemistry are very difficult to predict. The quantum mechanically exact description of chemical reactions with more than three particles is difficult, with more than four particles it is almost impossible. Theorists simulate these reactions with classical physics and must neglect quantum effects. But where is the limit of this classical description of chemical reactions, which can only provide approximations?
Roland Wester from the Department of Ion Physics and Applied Physics at the University of Innsbruck has long wanted to explore this frontier. “It requires an experiment that allows very precise measurements and ...
New study could help pinpoint hidden helium gas fields – and avert a global supply crisis
2023-03-01
Helium – essential for many medical and industrial processes – is in critically short supply worldwide. Production is also associated with significant carbon emissions, contributing to climate change.
This study provides a new concept in gas field formation to explain why, in rare places, helium accumulates naturally in high concentrations just beneath the Earth’s surface.
The findings could help locate new reservoirs of carbon-free helium – and potentially also hydrogen.
Research led by the University of Oxford could help overturn the current supply crisis of helium, ...
Unique alcohol avoidance program is associated with lower death rates
2023-03-01
A statewide alcohol-monitoring program that requires people arrested for drunk driving and other alcohol-involved offenses to be tested frequently for alcohol use can reduce the likelihood that participants die for several years after their involvement with the program, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Analyzing results from South Dakota’s 24/7 Sobriety Program, researchers found that those arrested for drunk driving who participated in 24/7 Sobriety had on the order of a 50% lower risk of dying during the study period compared to those arrested for drunk driving who did not participate in the program..
The results are published in the latest edition of the ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Study shows making hydrogen with soda cans and seawater is scalable and sustainable
Could dietary changes -- even after obesity -- help prevent pancreatic cancer?
From rubble to rockets: Turning scrap metal into essential equipment
Museum specimens offer new lens on pollution history
Studying the 12C+12C fusion reaction at astrophysical energies using HOPG target
Bacteria hitch a ride on yeast puddles to zoom around
New non-invasive method discovered to enhance brain waste clearance
A summer like no other: inside 2023’s record-smashing North Atlantic marine heatwave
Many possible futures: How dopamine in the brain might inform AI that adapts quickly to change
Research shows rivers release ancient carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, uncovering a greater role for plants and soil in the carbon cycle
Hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol awareness among US adults
Longitudinal outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth physical fitness
Study shows loss of Y in blood cells hinders immune response to cancer
Loss of Y chromosome leads to poor cancer outcomes
The atmosphere’s growing thirst is making droughts worse, even where it rains
Colorectal cancer leaves lasting toll on women’s sexual health
New technology developed at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University promises faster, earlier diagnosis of deadly form of heart failure
PolyU scholar honored with the Hong Kong Engineering Science and Technology Award for contributions to Web3 and digital economy
Nationwide study finds that leaks in natural gas pipelines contribute to hazardous particulate air pollution
‘Eye’ on health: AI detects dizziness and balance disorders remotely
EyeCare4Kids™ names Maggie Cline as new CEO
Moderate exercise slows brain aging: U-shaped association revealed by accelerometry
Bat viruses similar to MERS have potential to jump to humans
New 3D-printing method makes two materials from one resin
A better understanding of how gene editing tools work
Tool for protecting soldiers’ brain health earns $3.2 million grant
Virginia Tech researcher earns American Heart Association fellowship to explore how obesity increases the risk for heart disease
Study identifies personality traits associated with bedtime procrastination
How late college students go to sleep is influenced by the need to belong
Discovery of giant planet orbiting tiny star challenges theories on planet formation
[Press-News.org] nTIDE February 2023 Deeper Dive: What’s driving historic highs for employment of people with disabilities?National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) – issued semi-monthly by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire