Brussels, 23/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European foundation for improving living and working conditions has published the conclusions of its study on "illness, disability and social inclusion". Research was aimed at examining the nature and extent of the problems facing persons suffering from long-term physical or mental disabilities, and especially the obstacles facing them on the labour market. It was also to identify the political initiatives relating to employment, education, housing, transport and other areas which facilitate social and economic integration.
With the help of statistical studies on the incidence of disability and illness and drawing on the experience of persons suffering from chronic illness or disability, the Foundation gives a hardly optimistic picture of the situation. Chronic illnesses or disabilities affect 17% of the European population and around 15% of the population of working age. Six percent of the population of working age receive disability allowance. Around one quarter of the new allowances are for those suffering from mental illness. Physical, legal and administrative barriers still exist, however. A good many of these sufferers live in poverty. Those with a chronic illness or disabilities are often only considered as requiring care. Segregation often begins at an early age, for the child who is relegated to a parallel system of education or excluded from society in general (as in Spain, Greece, Ireland or Portugal). These difficulties then have an effect on the labour market. The rate of non-participation in the labour market is thus twice as high among those with disabilities than it is among people without disabilities, at working age. The rate of unemployment among people suffering from a serious illness or disability is around three times higher than that for those without. In some countries of the European Union (Greece, Ireland), persons with disabilities receive strong encouragement to go to work, but, when they do so, their salaries are lower than for workers without disabilities. "Policies aimed at increasing labour market participation while cutting back on allowances are probably destined to fail", the report notes. The Foundation proposes a number of measures such as: an agreement on a "universal concept" intended to improve access to infrastructures, the establishment of uniform criteria for granting allowances to disabled persons or a European code of practice focused on "reasonable adjustment" of employment, as well as the integration of children with disabilities in the general education network.
The report entitled "Illness, Disability and Social Inclusion" is available on the internet (eurofound.eu.int). Further information may be obtained from Teresa Renehan par e-mail: ter@eurofound.eu.int