Cornell Study Finds 11-Point Employment Gap for Disabled Ex-Offenders, Hitting Women Hardest
Updated
Updated · Cornell Chronicle · May 20
Cornell Study Finds 11-Point Employment Gap for Disabled Ex-Offenders, Hitting Women Hardest
1 articles · Updated · Cornell Chronicle · May 20
Summary
Justice-impacted people with disabilities were nearly 11 percentage points less likely to be employed than disabled people without criminal-justice contact, Cornell researchers found in a study using two U.S. national data sets.
More than half of formerly incarcerated people in the U.S. have a disability, and the study says the overlap creates a compounding labor-market disadvantage rather than simply adding two already weak employment outcomes.
Women faced the widest disparities within that group: white justice-impacted women with disabilities were 13.5% less likely to be employed than white disabled women without criminal records, the largest gap identified.
The findings suggest employment barriers vary by gender and race, leading the authors to argue against one-size-fits-all policies for employers and workforce programs serving this population.
What truly motivates employers to hire someone with both a criminal record and a disability?
If working risks losing disability benefits, is employment the right goal for this population?
As new Medicaid work rules loom, are we setting up disabled ex-offenders for another systemic failure?
Breaking Barriers: Why Only 31% of College-Educated Americans with Disabilities Are Employed in 2024—and What Must Change
Overview
The report highlights that people with disabilities face persistent employment gaps, but higher education greatly improves their job prospects. In 2023, only 10.6 percent of disabled individuals without a high school diploma were employed, compared to 31.3 percent of those with a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Recently, more disabled individuals are choosing to work, which affects disability benefit programs. The rise of flexible and remote work has further expanded employment opportunities for people with disabilities, challenging old assumptions about workplace requirements and showing that modern work arrangements can help close the employment gap.