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Eurostat report - One in six of the EU working-age population report disability

Among the working-age population¹ in the EU in 2002, 16.4% - one in every six reported that they had a long standing health problem or disability² (LSHPD). Among the eight Acceding Countries³ taking part in the study, the proportion was 14.3%. In total among the 25 countries covered by the study, nearly 45 million persons of working-age reported a long standing health problem or disability.

To mark the European Commission Closing Ceremony for the European Year of People with Disabilities, which will take place from 5 to 7 December in Rome, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, publishes today a report⁴ on the employment of disabled people in Europe.

The proportion of the working-age population with LSHPD varies widely among Member States, with the highest percentage found in Finland (32.2%) and the United Kingdom (27.2%), and the lowest in Italy (6.6%) and Spain (8.7%). Among the Acceding Countries the highest percentage was found in Estonia (23.7%) and the lowest in Slovakia (8.2%). These large differences between countries should be interpreted with caution. They may partly reflect differences in how respondents perceived the questions and the replies could have been mediated by cultural traits.

Overall there is little difference in the prevalence of disability between males and females. The prevalence rates of LSHPD are higher among those with lower education, and among the widowed, divorced and the inactive. Not surprisingly, the rates of LSHPD increase with age in all Member States.

Percentage of the working age population with LSHPD in 2002

* Excluding Latvia and Poland

Disabled persons and employment

Labour force participation is much lower for the severely disabled⁵: 78% of the very severely disabled, and 49% of the severely disabled, aged 16-64 in the EU were inactive in 2002, against 27% for the non-disabled. Even among those in the labour force, the unemployment rate was higher among the very severely disabled (12.8%) and severely disabled (10.9%) than among the non-disabled (7.2%). Participation in the labour force and unemployment rates for those with moderate or mild disability were, however, similar to those for the non-disabled.

Only 15.7% of working disabled people in the EU, and 11.4% of those in the Acceding Countries, who faced work restrictions, were provided with some assistance to work in 2002. In the EU the assistance provided most often concerned the kind of work to be performed (37%), support and understanding by superiors and colleagues (15%) or the amount of work to be performed (13%). Among the Acceding Countries most of the assistance provided concerned the kind of work (52%) and the amount of work to be performed (33%).

Working persons with LSHPD restriction receiving assistance to work (%) in 2002.

Disabled persons were those who stated in the Labour Force Survey that they had a longstanding health problem or disability for 6 months or more or expected to last 6 months or more.

Acceding Countries taking part were: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia. No data is available for Latvia and Poland.

Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Population and Social Conditions, 26/2003, "Employment of disabled people in Europe in 2002".

Disability levels: Very severe disability applies to those who replied “considerably” or “to some extent” to all three questions on restrictions in (1) the kind of work that can be done, (2) the amount of work that can be done, and (3) mobility to and from work. Severe disability applies to respondents who replied “considerably” or “to some extent” to two of the three questions.

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