Research Article
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Abstract
Purpose: Workplace accommodations are central to improving employment outcomes for people with and without disabilities; this study presents national estimates comparing accommodation requests and receipt as reported by individuals with and without disabilities.
Method: Estimates are developed from the May 2012 Current Population Survey Disability Supplement.
Results: The findings highlight variability in accommodation requests by disability type and status. Accommodation request rates are also presented by occupation and industry groups.
Conclusions: As employers voice concerns about the additional burden of employing individuals with disabilities under new regulatory requirements, our findings highlight that 95% of individuals requesting an accommodation were people without disabilities.
Figures
Figure 1
Percentage of workers who requested accommodation by disability type (base population presented in thousands). The error bars show one standard error above the estimate and one standard error below the estimate. Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement.
View in ContextFigure 2
Percentage of workers who reported that accommodation requests were granted, not granted, or partially granted, by disability type. Estimates only include individuals who reported requesting an accommodation. Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement.
View in ContextFigure 3
Percentage of workers who requested various accommodations by disability types. The error bars show one standard error above the estimate and one standard error below the estimate. 1 = new or modified equipment; 2 = physical changes to the workplace; 3 = policy changes to the workplace; 4 = changes in work tasks, job structure or schedule; 5 = changes in communication or information sharing; 6 = changes to comply with religious beliefs; 7 = accommodations for family or personal obligations; 8 = training; 9 = other changes. Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement.
View in ContextFigure 4
The number (in thousand) and percentage of workers who requested accommodations. Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement.
View in ContextTables
TABLE 1
Questions From Current Population Survey Basic Monthly Survey and the May Supplement Used in This Study
| Disability Questionsa (if respondent indicates “yes” to any of the questions, he or she is prompted to respond who in the household has the difficulty) |
|
| Request accommodation | (Have/Has) (you/Name) ever requested any change in (your/his/her) current workplace to help (you/him/her) do (your/his/her) job better? For example, changes in work policies, equipment, or schedules. |
| Accommodation type | What changes did (you/Name) request?
|
| Accommodation granted | (Was/Were) the (change/changes) granted? |
Note. U.S. Census Bureau staff conducted interviews during the period of May 13–19, 2012. It was a proxy response supplement; that is, a single respondent could provide answers for all eligible household members, provided the respondent was a household member 15 years of age or older.
[i] aThe disability questions are asked on the Current Population Survey Basic Monthly Survey at intake and again after 1 year.
TABLE 2
Total Employee Sample (Unweighted) and Average Age (Weighted) by Disability Status in Sample Used From the May 2012 Current Population Survey Supplement
| Total Employee Sample | 54,113 |
| People with disabilities | 2,092 |
| People without disabilities | 52,021 |
| Average Employee Age | 41.97 |
| People with disabilities | 50.59 |
| People without disabilities | 41.65 |
TABLE 3
Comparison of Workers Requesting Accommodation by Disability Status Within Occupational Groups and Industries
| Disability Prevalence | Workers With Disabilities | Workers Without Disabilities | |||||
| Disabled Workforce (in thousands) | % of Total Employed | No. of Who Requested Accommodations (in thousands) | % of Disabled Workforce | No. Who Requested Accommodations (in thousands) | % of Non-disabled Workforce | Percentage Point Difference Between Workers With and Without Disabilities (90% CI) | |
| Occupation | |||||||
| Management, business, and financial occupations | 688.6 | 3.0 | 77.9 | 11.3 | 2,155.3 | 9.8 | 1.6 (−2.2, 5.3) |
| Computer, engineering, and science occupations | 237.2 | 3.0 | 32.6 | 13.8 | 907.0 | 11.6 | 2.1 (−4.9, 9.1) |
| Education, legal, community service, arts, media occupations | 544.9 | 3.4 | 107.1 | 19.7 | 1,595.5 | 10.4 | 9.2*** (3.9, 14.5) |
| Health care practitioner and technical occupations | 188.0 | 2.3 | 39.7 | 21.1 | 910.9 | 11.6 | 9.5* (0.2, 18.7) |
| Service occupations | 1,050.7 | 4.1 | 110.0 | 10.5 | 1,771.9 | 7.2 | 3.3* (0.4, 6.3) |
| Sales and related occupations | 491.0 | 3.3 | 44.9 | 9.1 | 988.9 | 6.8 | 2.4 (−1.7, 6.4) |
| Office and administrative support occupations | 631.0 | 3.6 | 97.7 | 15.5 | 1,463.8 | 8.6 | 6.9** (2.4, 11.4) |
| Natural resources, construction, maintenance occupations | 436.8 | 3.4 | 36.2 | 8.3 | 864.4 | 7.0 | 1.3 (−2.8, 5.5) |
| Production, transportation, and material moving occupations | 808.1 | 4.7 | 96.8 | 12.0 | 1,186.6 | 7.3 | 4.7** (1.1, 8.3) |
| Industry | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing,and hunting | 162.4 | 6.8 | 12.2 | 7.5 | 82.2 | 3.7 | 3.8 (−2.7, 10.3) |
| Mining | 41.2 | 3.9 | 6.7 | 16.2 | 68.2 | 6.7 | 9.6 (−8.3, 27.5) |
| Construction | 342.0 | 3.8 | 10.1 | 3.0 | 535.9 | 6.3 | −3.3 (−6.2, −0.4) |
| Manufacturing | 497.8 | 3.4 | 76.5 | 15.4 | 1,471.1 | 10.3 | 5.0* (0.0, 10.1) |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 733.6 | 3.7 | 77.8 | 10.6 | 1,335.3 | 7.0 | 3.6* (0.0, 7.1) |
| Transportation and utilities | 272.5 | 3.7 | 51.5 | 18.9 | 503.0 | 7.2 | 11.7*** (4.4, 19.1) |
| Information | 101.4 | 3.3 | 19.0 | 18.8 | 378.6 | 12.6 | 6.2 (−5.9, 18.3) |
| Financial activities | 265.7 | 2.8 | 39.8 | 15.0 | 788.4 | 8.6 | 6.4 (−0.4, 13.2) |
| Professional and business services | 533.4 | 3.2 | 46.8 | 8.8 | 1,326.6 | 8.2 | 0.6 (−3.2, 4.4) |
| Educational and health services | 1,164.9 | 3.6 | 191.3 | 16.4 | 3,154.3 | 10.0 | 6.4*** (3.0, 9.8) |
| Leisure and hospitality | 404.7 | 3.0 | 45.0 | 11.1 | 1,066.9 | 8.1 | 3.1 (−1.8, 7.9) |
| Other services | 311.4 | 4.5 | 31.3 | 10.1 | 493.4 | 7.5 | 2.6 (−2.8, 7.9) |
| Public administration | 245.1 | 3.8 | 34.8 | 14.2 | 640.3 | 10.2 | 4.0 (−3.0, 11.0) |
Note. CI = confidence interval. Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement
* .05 p .10; ** .01 p .05; *** p .01
Article usage
| Period | Abstract | Full | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2024 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| Mar 2024 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Feb 2024 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 29 |
| Jan 2024 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 26 |
| Dec 2023 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 19 |
| Nov 2023 | 85 | 14 | 4 | 103 |
| Oct 2023 | 43 | 18 | 3 | 64 |
| Sep 2023 | 79 | 11 | 4 | 94 |
| Aug 2023 | 188 | 9 | 3 | 200 |
| Jul 2023 | 252 | 12 | 6 | 270 |
| Jun 2023 | 287 | 21 | 7 | 315 |
| May 2023 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 30 |
| Apr 2023 | 47 | 7 | 4 | 58 |
| Mar 2023 | 305 | 4 | 1 | 310 |
| Feb 2023 | 184 | 124 | 5 | 313 |
| Jan 2023 | 430 | 19 | 10 | 459 |
| Dec 2022 | 35 | 11 | 4 | 50 |
| Nov 2022 | 206 | 17 | 4 | 227 |
| Oct 2022 | 201 | 23 | 2 | 226 |
| Sep 2022 | 264 | 12 | 5 | 281 |
| Aug 2022 | 205 | 13 | 2 | 220 |
| Jul 2022 | 198 | 16 | 6 | 220 |
| Jun 2022 | 241 | 24 | 4 | 269 |
| May 2022 | 477 | 16 | 3 | 496 |
| Apr 2022 | 52 | 12 | 3 | 67 |
| Mar 2022 | 199 | 4 | 4 | 207 |
| Feb 2022 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 24 |
| Jan 2022 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 50 |
| Dec 2021 | 322 | 11 | 4 | 337 |
| Nov 2021 | 50 | 14 | 3 | 67 |
| Oct 2021 | 254 | 5 | 2 | 261 |
| Sep 2021 | 190 | 6 | 3 | 199 |
| Aug 2021 | 509 | 11 | 2 | 522 |
| Jul 2021 | 174 | 10 | 6 | 190 |
| Jun 2021 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| May 2021 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
| Apr 2021 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Mar 2021 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 15 |
| Feb 2021 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 37 |
| Jan 2021 | 333 | 4 | 0 | 337 |
| Dec 2020 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 19 |
| Nov 2020 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| Oct 2020 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Sep 2020 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| Aug 2020 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Jul 2020 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Jun 2020 | 86 | 1 | 0 | 87 |
| May 2020 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Apr 2020 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Mar 2020 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Feb 2020 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Jan 2020 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Dec 2019 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Nov 2019 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Oct 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2019 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Aug 2019 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Jul 2019 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jun 2019 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| May 2019 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Apr 2019 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Mar 2019 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Feb 2019 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jan 2019 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Dec 2018 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Nov 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 2018 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Sep 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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