Landmark Disability Survey Finds Pervasive Disadvantages
2004 N.O.D./Harris Survey Documents Trends Impacting 54 Million Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. JUNE 24, 2004 – Americans with disabilities are at a critical disadvantage compared to other Americans in ten key areas of life, according to the 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities, released in Washington today. Continuing a trend, the survey found slow and modest progress in the indicators, which Harris has tracked since 1986.

Harris Poll Chairman Humphrey Taylor, who directed related surveys in 1986, 1994, 1998 and 2000, highlighted statistics:

• Only 35 percent of people with disabilities reported being employed full or part time, compared to 78 percent of those who do not have disabilities.
• Three times as many live in poverty with annual household incomes below $15,000 (26 percent versus 9 percent).
• People with disabilities remain twice as likely to drop out of high school (21percent versus 10 percent).
• They are twice as likely to have inadequate transportation (31 percent versus 13 percent), and a much higher percentage go without needed health care (18 percent versus 7 percent).
• People with disabilities are less likely to socialize, eat out, or attend religious services than their non-disabled counterparts.
• Not surprisingly given the persistence of these gaps, life satisfaction for people with disabilities also trails, with only 34 percent saying they are very satisfied compared to 61 percent of those without disabilities.

"Progress is too slow, and the gaps are still too large," said National Organization on Disability President Alan A. Reich. "Looking back four years, or ten years, to our earlier N.O.D./Harris surveys, we see Americans with disabilities heading in the right direction. But people with disabilities remain pervasively disadvantaged. Our goal of full participation is a dream deferred. I hope that the findings we are releasing today will inspire legislators, public officials, and the American people to rededicate themselves to this goal. A fifth of Americans have disabilities; everyone knows people with disabilities; and anyone can acquire a disability at any time. Everyone has a stake in these findings."

In addition to the primary findings, Mr. Taylor reported several others of note:

• Although 22 percent of employed people with disabilities report encountering job discrimination, this is a dramatic drop from 36 percent four years ago.
• The severity of disability makes a significant difference in all of the gap areas, and people with severe disabilities have much greater disadvantages.
• People with disabilities are much more worried about their future health and well-being. Half are worried about not being able to care for themselves or being a burden to their families, compared to a quarter of other Americans.
  Americans with disabilities rely on assistive technology, and a third say they would lose their independence without this technology.
• People with disabilities are more likely to have a common sense of identity with other people with disabilities; 56 percent now say they do, compared to 47 percent in 2000.

In conjunction with the survey's release, a hearing was held on Capitol Hill by the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness. Mr. Reich was joined in testifying by two N.O.D. Board Members, actor Robert David Hall of the hit television series CSI and Dr. Peter Blanck, Director of the University of Iowa's Law, Health Policy and Disability Center.

"Depending on the severity and type of disability that one has, some doors open but certain other doors close," said Mr. Hall, who lost both legs in a 1978 highway accident. "The N.O.D./Harris Survey does a good job of pointing out these societal problems and highlights the real gaps we face as citizens with disabilities."

The 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities is sponsored by American Express, AstraZeneca, Milbank Foundation for Rehabilitation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, NEC Foundation of America, and RRTC on Workforce Investment and Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities, U.S. Department of Education Grant #H133B980042-99, Law, Health Policy & Disability Center, University of Iowa College of Law. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation collaborated on this survey and funded the health section.