DISABLED FACE SCARCER JOBS, DATA SHOW

By KRIS MAHER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 5, 2005; Page D2

Outsourcing and the growth of low-paying service positions are likely to
make it tougher for disabled workers in the U.S. to find jobs, despite
advances in technology and more favorable attitudes among employers,
experts say.

According to a report to be released today by Cornell University, based
on Census Bureau data, the employment rate for Americans age 21 to 64
with sensory, physical, mental, or self-care disabilities fell to 38.3%
in 2004, from 40.8% in 2001.

Disability researchers say the data offer a clearer picture of the
situation than previous statistics from the Labor Department's Current
Population Survey, because the new data rely on a larger sample size and
a more precise definition of disability. "A lot of people have been
hammering the CPS for a long time for not being very accurate," says
Andrew Houtenville, senior research associate at Cornell's Employment and
Disability Institute. "This really says things are indeed getting worse"
for disabled workers.

Doug Kruse, an economist at Rutgers University, says disability benefits
keep some disabled workers from accepting jobs, because they can lose
several hundred dollars a month in Social Security Disability Income
after earning more than $830 a month for nine months. "That's a whale of
a disincentive to work," says Mr. Kruse.

Others say that outsourcing abroad has cut jobs often done by the
disabled, such as call-center positions. "Unfortunately [moving jobs
overseas] means that blind and visually impaired people are not doing
those jobs" in the U.S., says Karen Wolffe, director of the professional
development department at the American Foundation for the Blind.

In January, Doug Schalk lost his position as a customer representative at
Vanguard Car Rental USA Inc.'s Alamo Rent A Car, when the company
transferred his call center's work to India and a different location in
the U.S. Mr. Schalk, who is blind, was able to land a job with Willow CSN
Inc., a Miramar, Fla., company that manages call centers through a
network of about 2,000 home-based workers. But he says that six of 10
blind former co-workers remain unemployed.

The employment figures highlighted by the Cornell study are consistent
with long-term job trends for disabled workers. "The employment rate for
people with disabilities hasn't improved in the last twenty years, even
when times were good," said Andrew Imparato, president and chief
executive of the American Association of People with Disabilities, an
organization with 115,000 members.

Mr. Imparato and other disability advocates blame a variety of factors,
including inadequate job training and negative attitudes among some
hiring managers. But they also point to more recent employment trends,
such as the abundance of low-paying service-sector jobs that often don't
provide adequate health benefits to meet disabled workers' needs.

# # # # #

Note by Urban Miyares, president, Disabled Businesspersons Association:
"The number of people with disabilities starting businesses is increasing
rapidly."


This Group was established by Diversity World to provide an active Network
and Forum for individuals and organizations who are keen on advancing
self-employment for people with disabilities.





--
Arthur W. Blaser, Professor
Department of Political Science
Chapman University
One University Drive
Orange, CA 92866