In this fifth edition of CCSD's Disability Research Information Sheets, we continue to examine wages and labour market statistics for persons with disabilities using Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). Continuing with the information provided in Sheet No. 4, we go beyond questions concerning labour force participation patterns - Are persons with disabilities getting as much work? - to focus on wages and the economic security derived from employment - Are persons with disabilities getting good jobs that lead to economic security? As well, we look at the movement of employed persons with and without disabilities within broad occupational groupings and changes in the rate of involuntary part-time work.
In this Issue:In Information Sheet No. 4, we provided cross-sectional data from the SLID which highlighted the lower wage rates of persons with disabilities. In this edition, rather than looking at wage rates for a single year, using the longitudinal data from the SLID we examine the movement in relative wage rates from the beginning of the interval in 1993 to the end in 1998. Using the composite hourly wage rates of all wage earners,1 we divided workers into three equal groups according to their composite hourly wage rates in 1993 and in 1998. This provided us with:
We then looked at where workers were located in 1993 and 1998 within those three groups, according to their pattern of disability. Did workers with particular patterns of disability tend to remain in the same group of wage earners in both years, or did they move among the groups? Is there evidence of wage mobility? Are workers with certain disability patterns more likely than others to be trapped in the bottom-third of all wage earners or more likely to experience downward wage mobility?
The results of this analysis are summarized in Table 1. The workers with the most enviable wage profile were those who began the six-year interval in the top-third of all wage earners in 1993 and ended up still in the top-third in 1998. As was seen from the data in Information Sheet No. 4, it is no surprise that workers with no disability in any year were the most likely to have this wage profile. Among that group, 25.5% remained stable in the top-third of all wage earners. Workers who had a disability throughout the entire interval were the least likely to remain stable in the top-third, with only 16.3% in this category.
Table 1| Table 1: Wage Mobility, 1993 to 1998, by Disability Pattern | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position relative to other wage earners | No disability any year | Became non-disabled | Became disabled | Cycles in and out | Disabled throughout |
| Top-third, stable | 25.5% | 23.9% | 20.2% | 20.4% | 16.3% |
| Middle-third, stable | 19.4% | 25.7% | 16.2% | 21.0% | 19.6% |
| Bottom-third, stable | 23.4% | 23.4% | 24.2% | 29.5% | 27.3% |
| Upward wage movement | 16.1% | ** | 14.2% | 12.9% | 17.2% |
| Downward wage movement | 15.6% | 17.6% | 25.3% | 16.2% | 19.6% |
| TOTAL | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| NOTES: Includes persons with a job in 1993 and 1998, and excludes full-time students. Wage mobility as captured here is based on a worker's wages (using composite hourly wage rates) relative to other wage earners. Top-third, stable: Individual was in the top one-third of all wage earners in both 1993 and 1998. Middle-third, stable: Individual was in the middle one-third of all wage earners in both 1993 and 1998. Bottom one-third, stable: Individual was in the bottom one-third of all wage earners in both 1993 and 1998. Upward wage movement : Individual's wages rose from the bottom- or middle-third of all wage earners in 1993, to the middle- or top-third of all wage earners in 1998. Downward wage movement : Individual's wages dropped from the top- or middle-third of all wage earners in 1993, to the middle- or bottom-third of all wage earners in 1998. **Unstable estimate due to small sample size | |||||
| Prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dyanmics. | |||||
Persons who experienced cycles into and out of disability and those who had a disability throughout the six-year interval were the most likely to be trapped in the lower-third of wage earners: 29.5% of those who experienced cycles in their disability and 27.3% of those with a disability throughout the interval remained stable in the bottom-third of wage earners in both 1993 and 1998. Workers with no disability in any year and those who became non-disabled were the least likely to be trapped in the lower-wage group, with only 23.4% of both types remaining stable in the bottom-third of all wage earners in both 1993 and 1998.
Downward movement in wages relative to other wage earners was most likely to be experienced by those who acquired a disability over the six-year interval (25.3%), and it was least likely among those who had no disability in any year over that period (15.6%). It is interesting to note that those who acquired a disability during the six-year interval were even more likely to experience downward movement in their wages than those who were disabled throughout the entire period (19.6%) and those with cyclical disabilities (16.2%). In fact, workers with cyclical disabilities experienced almost as little downward wage movement as those with no disability in any year. However, it must be recognized that those who experienced cyclical disabilities were also the most likely to be trapped in the lowest-third group of wage earners. In effect, their wages were already so low at the start of the survey interval, there wasn't much further for them to fall.
Let's take a step back for a minute. In a previous Information Sheet (No. 2, Table 1), we examined patterns of disability over this six-year period in terms of loss of employment. With those data, only persons who entered the six-year interval with employment were included in the analysis, and as we saw, those without any disability in any year were the most likely to avoid job loss. Workers with cycles of disability and those with a disability throughout the interval were the most likely to lose their employment over the survey period.
The data presented here, however, examine the relative wage rates of those who began and ended the interval with employment. If, as we saw in Information Sheet No. 4, the employment losses experienced by those with cyclical or constant disabilities were more likely among those in lower-paying jobs, then we would expect to see that workers who remained employed at the end of the six-year interval were more likely to have less-precarious jobs, with slightly higher rates of pay. This means that the differences summarized here in Table 1 tell only part of the story. They fail to capture the fact that a higher proportion of persons affected by disability had no wages at all at the end of the interval.2 It seems highly likely that these persons lost their jobs at some point during this period, and they had not regained paid employment by 1998.
While it seems that persons affected by disability during the six-year interval were less likely than those unaffected by disability to have enviable wage profiles when they had employment, how did they fare overall in terms of their economic security? In Chart 1, we focus on a commonly used measure of poverty: the low income cut-off or LICO.3
In Chart 1, we examine persons who were of working age (16 to 64 years old) throughout the entire six-year interval and were not full-time students. The proportion of persons who remained above LICO (or did not fall into poverty) in each of the six years from 1993 to 1998 are summarized by disability pattern. As can be seen in the Chart, those who had no disability in any year obviously experienced the greatest economic security: 81.5% remained above LICO for all six years. Those who had a disability in all six years were the least likely to escape poverty: only 44.7% of that group were above LICO throughout the interval.
Chart 1
It is important to remember that LICO is a family-based measure, thus we are examining the economic security of the families in which these individuals live. For those affected by disabilities, having low wages or a lack of paid employment can seriously affect the family income. In other cases, however, a lack of paid employment or low wages earned by a person with disabilities can be offset by the income of another family member. One reason for focussing on wage mobility is to address the capacity of individuals to improve their overall economic security. In other words, a good wage profile is even more important to have if it keeps you out of poverty.
In order to combine our focus on both wage profiles and overall economic security, we created an experimental variable that we have called "economic success." This variable attempts to measure an enviable wage profile along with overall economic security. Individuals were deemed to have had economic success if their wage profiles were in the top-third or middle-third groups in both 1993 and 1998 - i.e., stable - or if they experienced upward wage mobility between 1993 and 1998. They also had to be above LICO in all six years of the interval. In other words, they had to have a fairly good wage profile and to have escaped poverty throughout the survey interval in order to be considered an economic success.
Chart 2 summarizes this new experimental variable of economic success, according to disability pattern. To be included in this chart, individuals had to be of working age throughout the entire six-year interval, they had to be employed in 1993 and in 1998, and they could not be full-time students. In effect, this was the population most likely to be able to derive their economic security through the labour market.
Given the data already presented, it is not surprising that those with no disability in any year over the survey period were the most likely to have achieved economic success (35.1%). But even this proportion seems low, given the earlier finding that 81.5% of those without any disability remained above the LICO during this period. It seems that the additional condition for this variable - having a reasonably good wage profile - makes a very large difference indeed.
Looking back at Table 1, we note that 61% of those with no disability had an enviable wage profile as defined here - that is, their wages were stable in the top-third or middle-third groups, or they experienced upward wage mobility. However, when we put both the two conditions together - having the economic security of a job and having a good wage profile - many fewer people achieved economic success. Nonetheless, those with no disability (35.1%) were about five times more likely than those with a disability throughout the entire interval (6.7%) to have achieved economic success as defined here.
Chart 2
In the final part of this Information Sheet, we examine broad occupational groupings and mobility among the groups between 1993 and 1998, according to disability pattern. Table 2 summarizes the movement between two very broad occupational groups. Using the Pineo-Porter-McRoberts occupational categories, workers were divided into two basic groups:
The vast majority of employed persons experienced very little mobility between these two broad occupational groups. From 1993 to 1998, those with a disability in all six years were the most likely to remain Non-managerial Workers (63.2%). Those who became non-disabled (45.7%) and those with no disability (47.2%) were the least likely to remain in this category. They were also the most likely to remain in the Professional/Managerial category: 41.1% for those who became non-disabled, and 42% for those who did not have a disability. The workers least likely to remain in the Professional/Managerial category were those who became disabled (30%), those with a disability in all six years (33.1%), and those with cycles into and out of disability (35.4%).
Table 2| Table 2: Occupational Mobility, 1993 to 1998, by Disability Pattern | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not disabled any year | Became non-disabled | Became disabled | Cycles in/out of disability | Disability all 6 years | |
| Remained in Professional/Managerial group | 42.0% | 41.1% | 30.0% | 35.4% | 33.1% |
| Moved into Professional/Managerial group | 7.2% | 6.4% | 6.2% | 3.6% | ** |
| Remained in Non-managerial Workers' group | 47.2% | 45.7% | 60.3% | 57.7% | 63.2% |
| Moved into Non-managerial Workers' group | 3.6% | ** | ** | 3.3% | ** |
| TOTAL | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Notes: Occupational groupings are based on the Pineo-Porter-McRoberts classification. Professional/Managerial group includes professional, semi-professional and all levels of managers; Non-managerial Workers group includes unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers with no managerial roles. **Unstable estimate due to small sample size. |
|||||
| Source: Prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. | |||||
Among non-managerial workers in 1993, movement into professional/managerial occupations was most likely among workers with no disability (7.2%) and least likely among those with cycles of disability (3.6%) and those with a disability in all six years (although in this latter group, the sample size is too small to release an estimate).
While these data do not capture the more detailed mobility patterns, particularly within the non-managerial worker group, they do provide evidence that those affected by disability are much less likely to be in positions of authority or to enjoy the autonomy typically associated with professional occupations.
We know that some persons with disabilities seek part-time work because of limitations on the length of their workday. However, some may accept part-time work only if full-time work is not available (i.e., "involuntary" part-time workers). Charts A and B summarize the percentage of involuntary part-time workers with and without disabilities by age group. There are a number of patterns evident in these data:
Charts A & B
In our next Disability Research Information Sheet, we will focus our attention on information technology, and examine access to and use of a variety of forms of technology. And in a subsequent Information Sheet, we will examine information technology on-the-job.
1See Information Sheet No. 4 for an explanation of composite hourly wage rates and how they are calculated.
2Readers interested in more information about labour market trends should consult Falling Behind: The State of Working in Canada, 2000, by Andrew Jackson and David Robinson, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
3LICO refers to Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut-off. Although LICO is widely used as an indicator of poverty, it is not defined as such by Statistics Canada. The low income cut-offs are based on family income and are adjusted for the size of the family and the size of the community in which they live.