October 23 marks the second annual Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day—a day to call attention to one of the largest wage gaps women workers face. According to analysis from the National Women’s Law Center, disabled women earn just 56 percent of what’s paid to nondisabled men for all workers, inclusive of part-time and seasonal workers. Even when comparing workers facing similar discrimination, disabled women only earn 81 percent of what disabled men earn when working full-time year-round, demonstrating how both disability and gender shape labor market outcomes for disabled women workers.
Evidence suggests that disabled individuals are interested in working when they are able to. The economic expansion following the Great Recession led to increased labor market engagement among disabled individuals, which, in turn, improved their economic well-being. When the pandemic increased remote work options, disabled workers’ employment grew the fastest of any demographic group in the United States.
Despite this demonstrated interest in engaging in the labor market, disabled workers work part-time at twice the rate of those without disabilities. Factors like this reinforce higher rates of poverty among working-age adults who have disabilities. Disabled workers may also need—and are entitled to—accommodations to allow them to fully participate in their jobs. Yet, research from the Urban Institute finds that 40 percent of adults with disabilities report unfair treatment at work. Disabled workers also face biases related to ableism—stereotypes and prejudices where others believe they have less value due to differences in abilities—which shape how they are paid and treated at work.
All of these factors have an outsized impact on disabled women workers, who make up the majority of disabled workers, largely due to disability rates increasing with age and women having longer life expectancies than men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 22.3 percent of disabled women of working age are in the workforce compared to 62.8 percent of women without a disability. Disabled women also face an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent, compared to 3.7 percent for nondisabled women.
Women with disabilities, and particularly disabled women of color, face compounded discrimination in the workplace due to additional factors that shape each identity’s experiences in employment. These factors are more likely to impact Black women, who are also more likely to have disabilities that lead to functional limitations at work compared to other groups of women. Adults with disabilities are also more likely to report having experienced discrimination at work because of their gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation than those without disabilities, according to research from the Urban Institute.
Disability status itself also shapes how these women experience workplace discrimination, from wages to unfair treatment. For example, not only do women with disabilities receive lower wage offers when changing jobs, those with disabilities that elicit more prejudice based on attitudes toward certain impairments are offered even less pay.
It’s important to note that, in addition to the income and benefits that a job can provide, work can also be a source of empowerment and positive benefits for disabled women, helping to improve confidence and build community. Yet, empowerment at work is based on workplace structure and processes, not just personal attitudes. Worker-owned cooperatives have been shown to foster empowerment among disabled workers by subverting typical workplace hierarchies that can harm them. Additionally, workplaces that employ disabled workers report higher profits and a competitive advantage.
There is a range of actions that policymakers and advocates can take to promote pay equity, close the gender pay gap, and promote fair pay for all workers—including disabled women. IWPR’s Federal Policy Solutions to Advance Gender Equity highlights some of these, such as eliminating subminimum wages for disabled workers and promoting equity for part-time workers. In addition, ensuring federal agencies have adequate resources to enforce existing protections would help push back against discrimination faced by disabled women workers. Finally, expanding retirement security would have a disproportionate benefit on disabled women workers, who are more likely to be at retirement age.
Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day is an opportunity to draw attention to the unique challenges and opportunities facing disabled women workers and promote equitable workplaces and policies that will better support these—and all—women workers.
Thank you to Dr. Jessie Male for her generous review of this blog post. Dr. Male is a postdoctoral associate in disability studies at the University of Pittsburgh, where she teaches and develops programs to support disabled studies and faculty.
