Disabled immigrants getting jobs

The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital has initiated research published by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine which highlights immigrants with disabilities are more likely to be employed than indigenous Americans with a disability.

The study highlights that people with disabilities continue to find employment despite possible difficulties in getting to and carrying out work.

Encouragingly for the US economy, the number of disabled immigrants are still finding work, despite the tough economy. This is significant as approximately 13 percent of the current U.S. population were born overseas.

In 2007, there were about 24 million adults between 18 and 65 with disabilities of whom about a third (35 percent) were employed.

Regardless of the type of disability (sensory, physical, mental or emotional) the study found that both foreign-born citizens and non-citizens with disabilities were more likely than their US-born counterparts to be employed.

"The employment decisions of immigrants with disabilities may be impacted by eligibility for public assistance, whereas U.S.-born people with disabilities have greater access to public assistance and may depend less on salary income. Also, eligibility for foreign-born people is complicated by length of residency, citizenship, refugee status, work history and other factors," said lead author Huiyun Xiang.

The study discovered that disabled foreign-born workers traditionally worked within the cleaning and maintenance field, whereas US workers traditionally worked within a white-collar office environment, like sales and administrative support. As a result, US born disabled workers salary averaged $22,000 per annum in comparison to foreign-born salaries at $20,000.

"People with disabilities often face a variety of barriers to employment, including limited access to public transportation, limited mobility in and around the workplace and societal prejudice or discrimination. However, English language proficiency is likely an additional barrier for immigrants with disabilities and may affect the occupational options available to them," confirmed Xiang.

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