A disabled office worker. Photo courtesy of Equality 2025.

Households that have an adult with a disability have substantially lower income and net worth than those without, according to a study published in the June issue of National Association of Social Worker’s Social Work Research Journal (Volume 34 No. 2).

The income and net worth disparity between households with an adult with a disability and those without persists, regardless of the family structure (married couple, single parent etc.).

The study shows that adults with disabilities continue to fall behind their peers when it comes to economic well being almost two decades after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The study was done by researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Social Work and the University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, School of Social Work, Social Welfare and Social Planning  in Israel.

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