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Section 2: Work Disability and the Labor Force
2.7. What occupations are held by people with a work disability who are employed?
Of the 120 million people employed in the United States, 16 million are people with disabilities, according to analysis of SIPP employment data. The table Occupations of Workers with Disabilities, 1991-1992 shows the numbers of people with disabilities employed in various occupational categories. In this table, occupations are organized from the occupation where the highest number of people with disabilities are employed (executive and administrative) and ends with the occupation with the fewest reported people with disabilities (pharmacists, lawyers, judges, physicians, dentists, health professionals, firefighting and fire prevention.)
The second column in the table shows the cumulative percentage of all employed people with disabilities, as the reader moves down the list. The list is divided into Quartiles, showing roughly one quarter of all employed people with disabilities in each quartile. Thus, executive and administrative, machine operators, food preparation and service and sales workers account for approximately 25% of all employed people with disabilities. Handlers, cleaning and building services, mechanics and repairers, motor vehicle operators, secretarial, construction trades, and miscellaneous administrative support account for the second quartile. Many of the professions or occupations requiring advanced degrees (engineers, architects, registered nurses, social scientists, urban planners, lawyers) are in the fourth quartile.
Occupations of Workers with Disabilities
Total People Employed in the U.S. = 119,997,000 = 100%
Total People with Disabilities Employed in the U.S. = 16,064,000
First Quartile
| Occupations | Workers with a Disability | Cumulative % of Those Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Executive and administrative | 995,000 | 6.9% |
| Machine operators | 855,000 | 12.9% |
| Food preparation and service | 813,000 | 18.6% |
| Sales workers (retail and personal services) | 803,000 | 24.2% |
Second Quartile
| Occupations | Workers with a Disability | Cumulative % of Those Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Handlers, equip. cleaners, helpers, laborers | 768,000 | 29.5% |
| Cleaning, building service (except household) | 669,000 | 34.2% |
| Mechanics, repairers | 603,000 | 38.4% |
| Motor vehicle operators | 507,000 | 42.0% |
| Secretaries, stenos, typists | 493,000 | 45.4% |
| Construction trades | 484,000 | 48.8% |
| Misc. administrative support | 435,000 | 51.8% |
Third Quartile
| Occupations | Workers with a Disability | Cumulative % of Those Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Health service | 414,000 | 54.7% |
| Teachers | 411,000 | 57.6% |
| Farm, forestry, fishing, and related | 380,000 | 60.2% |
| Sales supervisors and proprietors | 354,000 | 62.7% |
| Precision working | 319,000 | 64.9% |
| Fabricators, assemblers, hand working | 313,000 | 67.1% |
| Management related | 306,000 | 69.2% |
| Personal service | 304,000 | 71.4% |
| Material recording, sched., distributing clerks | 287,000 | 73.4% |
| Financial records processing | 271,000 | 75.3% |
Fourth Quartile
| Occupations | Workers with a Disability | Cumulative % of Those Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Engineers, architects, surveyors | 195,000 | 76.6% |
| Material moving equipment operators | 187,000 | 77.9% |
| Health technologists and technicians | 181,000 | 79.2% |
| Guards | 180,000 | 80.4% |
| Information clerks | 179,000 | 81.7% |
| Social, recreation, religious workers | 178,000 | 82.9% |
| Supervisors (production operations) | 177,000 | 84.2% |
| Registered nurses | 166,000 | 85.3% |
| Production inspectors, testers, and related | 152,000 | 86.4% |
| Writers, artists, entertainers, athletes | 150,000 | 87.4% |
| Engineering technologists and technicians | 149,000 | 88.5% |
| Sales representatives (commodities except retail) | 149,000 | 89.5% |
| Supervisors (administrative support) | 147,000 | 90.5% |
| Sales representatives (finance and bus. services) | 132,000 | 91.5% |
| Math and computer scientists | 126,000 | 92.3% |
| Postsecondary Teachers | 104,000 | 93.1% |
| Private household | 97,000 | 93.7% |
| Records processing (except financial) | 96,000 | 94.4% |
| Computer equipment operators | 95,000 | 95.1% |
| Mail and message distributing | 91,000 | 95.7% |
| Police, detectives | 82,000 | 96.3% |
| Other technicians (except health, engin., science) | 61,000 | 96.7% |
| Office and communications equip. operators | 52,000 | 97.1% |
| Rail and water transportation | 41,000 | 97.4% |
| Other health assessment and treating | 39,000 | 97.6% |
| Plant and system operations | 38,000 | 97.9% |
| Science technicians | 37,000 | 98.2% |
| Social scientists, urban planners | 37,000 | 98.4% |
| Extractive | 33,000 | 98.6% |
| Natural scientists | 31,000 | 98.9% |
| Computer programmers | 30,000 | 99.1% |
| Librarians, archivists, curators | 29,000 | 99.3% |
| Counselors (educational and vocational) | 28,000 | 99.5% |
| Pharmacists | 22,000 | 99.6% |
| Lawyers, judges | 21,000 | 99.8% |
| Physicians, dentists, health diagnosing | 20,000 | 99.9% |
| Firefighting, fire prevention | 14,000 | 100.0% |
Table 2: Occupations of workers with disabilities, by quartiles
Source: McNeil (1993), Americans with Disabilities: 1991-92
http://web.icdi.wvu.edu/disability/ustabl7.html
Surveys: SIPP
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