Employment transitions among people with disabilities in Ireland: an analysis of the Quarterly National Household Survey

Employment is a crucial issue for people with disabilities because it has a strong bearing on their social inclusion and their economic welfare. For policymakers to help improve the wellbeing of people with disabilities, it is vital to understand the processes that lead to employment entries and exits among people with disabilities, including differences in this respect between those with distinct types of disability. To help address some of these questions, this report draws on data from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) to examine employment transitions of people with disabilities in Ireland. The QNHS tracks people for up to five calendar quarters and has a large enough sample size to allow an examination of the circumstances of working-age people with disabilities. This means that the data can be used to examine employment-related transitions and the circumstances in which they occur.

The following questions are addressed in this report. Firstly, what is the nature and scale of movement in and out of different labour force statuses (employed, unemployed, inactive) for people with disabilities, compared to the population as a whole? Secondly, how do employment entries differ by individual and family characteristics, such as age, gender, marital status, education and household type? After taking account of these, is there still a difference between people with and without a disability? Finally, how do employment exits differ by job characteristics, such as occupation, sector (public/private and industry), size of workplace, full-time or part-time work as well as individual/family characteristics?

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