Disability - The Number Of Us With Disabilities

How many of us live with an impairment serious enough to be considered a disability? The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 defines disability as a substantial limitation in a major life activity. More specifically, and according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, a person is considered disabled if he or she has one or more of the following:

• Difficulty performing certain basic functions (for example: seeing, hearing, talking, walking, climbing stairs and lifting and carrying).
• Difficulty performing activities of daily living (for example: eating, bathing, dressing, and handling toiletry needs).
• Difficulties with certain social roles (for example: doing school work for children, working at a job and around the house for adults).

The designation of disabled is one that covers a large range of impairments. In 1997, 52.6 million people had some level of disability. This figure is 19% of the population or close to one in every five Americans. Of this total, almost two thirds (32.9 million) had what are categorized as severe disabilities¹ and the rest (19.6 million) had non-severe disabilities.

The distinction between severe and non-severe disability is somewhat fluid. It depends to a large degree on how people self-identify themselves in census counts and surveys. For example, an older woman who has difficulty walking due to leg pain from arthritis may or may not be counted as disabled. But if she uses a cane or wheelchair, she will be categorized as having a severe disability.

Persons with the most severe disabilities usually need another person's assistance with one or more activities of daily living, often referred to as ADLs. In this group are those paralyzed by accident or disease, those born with a crippling disorder (cystic fibrosis, metal retardation, and cerebral palsy to name but three), and those suffering from advanced cases of such degenerative diseases as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis. These are the people whose impairments so dramatically impact their lives as to make independence impossible. In 1997, 10.1 million people lived with this level of disability, 3.8% of the U.S. population.

Among the young, men have a higher rate of disability than do women. In the age group 15 to 24 years, the prevalence of disability among women in 1997 was 9.8% and among men 11.6%. Young men, as we saw in Chapter 1, tend to engage in dangerous activities at higher rates than young women do. This may explain why they suffer more disabling accidents.

The situation changes as we age. Among those aged 55 to 64 in 1997, women had a rate of disability of 37.2% and men of 34.0%. Overall more women than men of all ages are disabled, 28.3 million women to 24.3 million men.

The fact that women live on average longer than men may have a lot to do with their higher rates of disability. As we age we experience more disabling diseases and accidents, both as a result of more life experience and because with age comes deterioration. Next we will look at the rate of increased disability with age.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Americans with Disabilities, 1997, Table 1, "Prevalence of Disability by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1997," February 2001, p. 10. Much of the data in this report originated in another Bureau of the Census report, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).