Ableism, discrimination against disabled people, has become a serious problem in our society that most people do not recognize. Most people think of race, gender, or sexual orientation when the word discrimination is mentioned.
Ableism is most common in the workforce. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal to discriminate when it comes to employment. Employers are not allowed to discriminate against disabled people by not hiring them or firing them because of their disability, but this is often not strictly monitored. Except for the physical or mental day to day challenges, disabled people are subjected to a variety of issues.
According to CBS News, along with stigmas disabled people have higher rates of poverty and lower education rates which makes it even more difficult to find jobs. Unconscious bias may play a role in the hiring of disabled versus non-disabled people. In a study done by researchers at Rutgers University, they send out 6,000 fake job applications for accounting positions and two-thirds of the applicants disclosed their disability. Each applicant was equally qualified and the two-thirds who disclosed a disability did not have a condition that would interfere with the ability to do accounting work. The study found that the disabled applicants received 26% fewer responses from employers compared to the able workers. Whether or not the reason behind the lack of hiring disabled people is because of the unconscious bias, this statistic proves that disabled people face a much harder time receiving employment because of their condition.
According to CNN, in 2010 79% of able Americans were employed while only 41.1% of disabled people were employed. The employment of disabled people has gone down over the years, but one reason for that is because of the aging population. Older people are more likely to have physical disabilities than younger people, but the employment rate for disabled people has decreased significantly more than non-disabled over the years.
Stigmas play a large part as a barrier to employment. People with physical disabilities struggle to find employment opportunities, but mental disabilities are also often overlooked. Many employers find it easier to turn a blind eye to mental disabilities as they are not as easily recognized and are not always spoken about.
Results from the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey found that 18% of employed Americans ages 15 to 54 had experienced mental health disorders in the past month. They were reluctant to seek help due to the negative stereotypes of mental disorders, specifically in the workplace, and the fear that they would lose their job. The fault is not placed fully on the employers because many do not know how to help. Our society as a whole does not take mental disabilities seriously enough. Because of this, many mental health disabilities go unnoticed and untreated. There have been stronger efforts more recently to address mental disabilities in certain work environments, but more needs to be done.
There are many actions that employers can take to promote awareness of mental disabilities in the workplace. According to CDC.gov, employers can offer health insurance that covers mental health medications and counseling, host workshops that address mental disabilities along with taking other measures that support their employees’ mental health.
Though these are all great steps that can accommodate mental disabilities in the workplace, it all costs money. Business owners are reluctant to do this because why go through the trouble and money when you could hire someone without any disabilities. This is the same when it comes to hiring physically disabled people, it is more cost-effective for the employer to higher a non-disabled person who does not require extra services. This is the main reason why disabled people as a whole have a lower employment rate.
