Getting to Equal 2018: The Disability Inclusion Advantage2
“Persons with disabilities present business
and industry with unique opportunities in
labor-force diversity and corporate culture,
and they’re a large consumer market eager to
know which businesses authentically support
their goals and dreams. Leading companies
are accelerating disability inclusion as the
next frontier of corporate social responsibility
and mission-driven investing.”
–Ted Kennedy, Jr.,
Disabilities Rights Attorney,
Connecticut State Senator and
Board Chair, American Association of People with Disabilities
3Getting to Equal 2018: The Disability Inclusion Advantage
What if you found out that your company is signifcantly underutilizing
a critical talent pool At a time when there are more job openings in
the U.S. than workers, you’d want to know more, wouldn’t you
And, what if, by recognizing the value of that talent pool and
leveraging it, your company could also realize signifcant gains in
proftability, value creation and shareholder returns—as well as other
business benefts
New research from Accenture, in partnership with Disability:IN and the
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), reveals that
companies that embrace best practices for employing and supporting
more persons with disabilities in their workforce have outperformed
their peers.
In large part, companies haven’t leveraged the talents of persons with
disabilities for three reasons:
A lack of understanding of the scope of the talent available;
A lack of understanding of the potential benefts; and
Misconceptions about the cost versus the ROI of disability inclusion.
But leading companies that are working successfully toward disability
inclusion have also achieved tangible fnancial benefts. For example,
the research shows that leading companies were, on average, twice
as likely to have higher total shareholder returns than those of their
peer group.
Introduction
4Getting to Equal 2018: The Disability Inclusion Advantage
1The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) defnes a person with a disability as someone who has a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. The ADA
was amended in 2008 and became effective January 1, 2009. The ADAAA requires a broader interpretation of disability by schools, testing agencies
and employers than the original law.
Figure 1: A Wide Employment Gap
Persons with disabilities are much less likely to be employed.
Despite the strength of the U.S. labor
market, persons with disabilities1 are
strikingly under-employed. As of July 2018,
only 29 percent of Americans of working age
(between ages 16 and 64) with disabilities
participated in the workforce, compared
with 75 percent of Americans without a
disability. In 2017, the unemployment rate
for persons with disabilities was more than
twice that for those without a disability—9.2
percent versus 4.2 percent.
There are 15.1 million people of working
age living with disabilities in the U.S., so
the research suggests that if companies
embrace disability inclusion, they will gain
access to a new talent pool of more than
10.7 million people.
A Vast, Untapped Market
That represents a signifcant opportunity to
strengthen our businesses and our economy.
According to other research cited within
this report, employees with disabilities
offer tangible benefts, including increased
innovation, improved productivity and a
better work environment. And, of course,
workers are consumers, too. The GDP could
get a boost up to $25 billion if just 1 percent
more of persons with disabilities joined the
U.S. labor force.
The good news, according to our analysis,
is that U.S. organizations are successfully
employing persons with disabilities and
initiating and developing their disability
inclusion programs.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Employed
DisabilityNo Disability
UnemployedNot in Workforce
68%
29%
3%
22%
75%
3%
Population (between ages 16 and 64) by labor-force
status and disability status, July 2018
Source: Accenture analysis based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2018。