Understanding disabilities in the United States starts with breaking down the statistics and looking at the facts. This can help you form an accurate picture of what disabilities look like, whom they impact, how they change lives and what types of assistance different individuals need.
With that in mind, here are some interesting facts you should know:
- Disabilities are more common with the elderly. For instance, when those who were 75 and older were asked, about 49.8% reported a disability. The same was true for 25.4% of the age group from 65 to 74.
- Middle-aged Americans have the most total disabilities. Their percentages are lower — just 13% when looking at people between the ages of 35 and 64 — but there are so many more people that the 16 million of them living with disabilities exceeds other groups.
- Disability odds do appear to be the same between men and women, showing no gender bias.
- If you’re wondering about how disabilities impact people, the two main ways are that they cannot live independently and that they struggle with mobility.
- Minnesota has a relatively low number of disabilities, when compared with other states. The highest totals are in West Virginia.
- Consistently, when you compare disabled and non-disabled Americans, earnings are higher for those without disabilities. This shows just one more way that living with a disability can be very challenging.
Those who are disabled, regardless of gender, age or other such factors, really must know what legal options they have. There are services and benefits that can help with such a difficult situation.
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