In this fourth Disability Information Sheet, we provide more labour market statistics for persons with disabilities, as requested by many of our readers. In particular, we have had numerous requests for data that go beyond simple questions of labour force participation patterns. People want to know something about the kind of work that persons with disabilities do when they get a job in the paid labour market, and we have received many demands for more information about wages. So in this Information Sheet, we concentrate primarily on wage data using Statistics Canada’s Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics.
In this issue:
In general, persons with disabilities receive lower wages than persons without disabilities. If we examine the median composite hourly wage rate1 for persons with and without disabilities (see Table 1), it is quite evident that persons with disabilities receive less money per hour on the job than persons without disabilities receive.
The lowest rate of pay is earned by young women (aged 16 to 34 ) with disabilities. The highest pay rate is found among men without disabilities aged 35 and older. Younger workers and women have the lowest wage rates among all those with and without disabilities. In 1998, for example, the lowest median composite hourly wage rate was $11.43 for women with disabilities aged 16 to 34, while the highest median composite hourly wage rate was $20.00 for men without disabilities aged 50 to 64. (see Table 1)
Table 1| Table 1: Hourly Wage Rates* for workers with and without disabilities, by age group and gender, 1993, 1995 and 1998 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age Group | ||||||
| 16-34 years | 35-49 years | 50-64 years | ||||
| Persons with Disabilities | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women |
| 1993 | $12.89 | $9.73 | $17.71 | $13.08 | $17.78 | $12.80 |
| 1995 | $10.89 | $9.38 | $15.63 | $11.98 | $18.40 | $10.86 |
| 1998 | $12.38 | $11.43 | $16.07 | $12.36 | $18.92 | $12.00 |
| Persons without Disabilities | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women |
| 1993 | $14.28 | $12.62 | $20.30 | $14.48 | $19.69 | $13.57 |
| 1995 | $14.38 | $12.01 | $20.48 | $15.07 | $20.01 | $14.54 |
| 1998 | $14.00 | $12.00 | $19.62 | $15.05 | $20.00 | $14.11 |
| *Note: These are median composite hourly wage rates, in constant 1998 dollars. See endnote 1 in this Information Sheet for a detailed definition. | ||||||
| Source: Prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (masterfile). | ||||||
The greatest change in wage rates occurred among persons with disabilities. While the overall wage rate (in constant 1998 dollars) remained fairly stable, with only some variation between 1993 and 1998 for persons without disabilities, there were several noteworthy changes in wage patterns among persons with disabilities. For this group, in general, the data show a drop in hourly wages in 1995 and an incomplete recovery by 1998, to just below their 1993 levels2. Other research has indicated that 1995 represented the worst year for persons with disabilities in terms of most labour market indicators, and these data are no exception3. While the overall economy in 1995 was well into a recovery from the recession of the early 1990s, all evidence indicates that the beneficial effects were delayed for persons with disabilities. (see Table 1)
These wage patterns can be seen more clearly by reorganizing the data in Table 1 into bar charts for three age groups. Among younger workers (aged 16 to 34), persons with disabilities experienced a "dip" in their hourly wage rates in 1995 (see Chart 1A). For young men with disabilities, the median composite hourly wage rate in 1993 was $12.89 per hour; this dropped to $10.89 per hour in 1995, and recovered to $12.38 in 1998. Among young women with disabilities, the median composite hourly wage rate dropped very slightly from $9.73 in 1993 to $9.38 in 1995, then rebounded strongly in 1998 to $11.43 – a higher level than they had reached in 1993. Among all women with disabilities, however, this was the only age group to have rebounded so strongly and it is one of the exceptions to the general pattern.
Chart 1A
Chart 1B
This phenomenon requires more detailed analysis in the future. For example, could increasing levels of educational attainment among young women with disabilities be one potential factor? A longitudinal analysis examining who in this group dropped out of the labour force completely between 1995 and 1998 might provide some insights. It is possible, for example, that some of the younger women with disabilities who had low wages were more likely to suffer a job loss in 1995 and be unable to re-enter the labour market by 1998. In that scenario, wage gains made by the other women with disabilities who remained in the labour force might have been offset by the loss of work among the younger group. We hope to pursue some of these issues in the future.
The other exception to the overall pattern is found among older men with disabilities. They experienced an increase in wages between 1993 and 1995 – from $17.78 to $18.40 – and remained relatively stable through 1998, at $18.92 (see Chart 1C). Again, future analysis will be needed to understand this phenomenon more fully.
Chart 1C
As one might expect, persons with higher levels of education generally have higher wages than those with lower levels of education – regardless of whether or not they have a disability. Nonetheless, at most levels of education, the wages of persons without disabilities tend to be higher than those of persons with disabilities (see Table 2). There are a number of instances where this is not the case, however. This suggests that education is a major factor in the determination of wages for persons with disabilities.
Table 2| Table 2: Hourly Wage Rates* for workers with and without disabilities by age group and level of education, 1993, 1995 and 1998 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities | |||||||
| 1993 | 1995 | 1998 | 1993 | 1995 | 1998 | |||
| Age Group | Highest Level of Education | Hourly Wage Rates* | ||||||
| Age 16-34 | Less than High School | $11.07 | $10.06 | $9.56 | $10.42 | $10.14 | $9.50 | |
| High School Graduate | $10.33 | $9.68 | $11.43 | $11.70 | $10.95 | $11.10 | ||
| Post-secondary Graduate | $12.34 | $12.15 | $16.80 | $15.39 | $15.51 | $15.36 | ||
| Age 35-49 | Less than High School | $12.00 | $11.46 | $11.25 | $13.83 | $13.42 | $13.50 | |
| High School Graduate | $16.51 | $12.34 | $13.22 | $15.87 | $15.98 | $15.53 | ||
| Post-secondary Graduate | $17.07 | $16.58 | $16.36 | $19.97 | $20.01 | $19.76 | ||
| Age 50-64 | Less than High School | $13.86 | $14.84 | $12.32 | $13.66 | $14.18 | $13.14 | |
| High School Graduate | $15.79 | $12.51 | $12.50 | $15.36 | $15.57 | $16.08 | ||
| Post-secondary Graduate | $19.20 | $18.89 | $20.12 | $20.50 | $20.60 | $20.16 | ||
| *Note: These are median composite hourly wage rates, in constant 1998 dollars. See endnote 1 for a detailed definition. | ||||||||
| Source: Prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (masterfile). | ||||||||
When we examine trends over the 1990s, we notice that for persons with disabilities, wage rates for those with less than a high school education were lower in 1998 than they were in 1993 or 1995. Unlike their better-educated counterparts, the wage rates for this group did not rebound after 1995. (see Table 2 and Charts 2A, B & C)
Chart 2A
Chart 2B
Chart 2C
The wage advantage enjoyed by older workers is obvious among both those with and without disabilities. However, the combination of age and post-secondary education is particularly important for workers with disabilities. In 1993, for example, younger (aged 16-34) post-secondary graduates with disabilities had a median composite hourly wage of $12.34, compared with $15.39 for their non-disabled counterparts. The wage gap in 1993 between those with and those without disabilities was considerably less among older (aged 50-64) post-secondary graduates – $19.20 and $20.50, respectively. While the gap between these two groups widened a bit in 1995, it had all but disappeared by 1998 ($20.12 compared to $20.16; see Table 2 and Chart 2C).
The wage advantages associated with stable full-year employment are obvious (see Table 3). Among persons with and without disabilities, those who were employed all year long earned higher wages than those who spent some time out of the labour force during the year. This gap became even more pronounced over time among persons with disabilities and stayed fairly consistent over time for persons without disabilities. Just as we saw with education, where those with lower levels of education seemed to lose wages throughout the decade – and enjoyed no post-1995 recovery – so too, have those with less-stable labour force participation patterns. This suggests that certain groups of persons with disabilities are becoming increasingly marginalized.
Table 3| Table 3: Hourly Wage Rates* for workers with and without disabilities by age group and labour force participation patterns, 1993, 1995 and 1998 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persons with Disabilities | Persons without Disabilities | |||||||
| Age Group | Labour Force Pattern | 1993 | 1995 | 1998 | 1993 | 1995 | 1998 | |
| Age 16-34 | Employed all year | $12.55 | $11.46 | $14.50 | $14.63 | $14.38 | $14.26 | |
| NILF** part of year | $9.60 | $9.16 | $9.01 | $10.67 | $10.27 | $10.00 | ||
| Aged 35-49 | Employed all year | $17.20 | $15.36 | $16.07 | $18.57 | $18.96 | $18.09 | |
| NILF** part of year | $11.73 | $11.34 | $10.00 | $12.80 | $12.18 | $12.63 | ||
| Aged 50-64 | Employed all year | $16.81 | $16.68 | $17.69 | $17.05 | $17.86 | $17.76 | |
| NILF** part of year | $14.62 | $14.80 | $12.33 | $13.51 | $14.07 | $13.50 | ||
| *Note: These are median composite hourly wage rates, in constant 1998 dollars. See endnote 1 in this Information Sheet for a detailed definition. ** Individual was not in the labour force for part of the year. |
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| Source: Prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's Survey of Income and Labour Dynamics (masterfile). | ||||||||
1The "composite hourly wage" is the average hourly wage rate (weighted by number of hours worked in each job) of all the jobs held during the year for each individual.
The "median composite hourly wage" is a single wage rate that is considered to be representative of multiple individuals belonging to a specific group (defined by age, gender, presence of disability, education level, and so on). By taking the composite hourly wage rate for all individuals in each group, we calculate the "median" or middle value. That means that half the individuals in the group had a composite hourly wage rate that was lower and half had a higher wage rate.
All wage rates reported here are in "constant 1998" dollars, and they have been adjusted for infla