The second phase of my doctoral studies research was related to people with disabilities and skills. Phase one was on language for specific purposes. When I went into phase two of my PhD work, I started reading statistics I could hardly believe about people with disabilities. Here, I present some of them from my own point of view.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2012, there were more women than men reporting disability, women with disabilities are more like to be alone and even single parents than their male counterparts, and pain related disabilities are the highest for both genders. I learned that I am a member of the group of women with disabilities who have been single parents (11%) and to have lived alone (24.6%). And by the way, according to one of my classmates from my doctoral seminar course women, single parents in vulnerable sectors are most likely to wind up in abusive relationships. Talk about scary. Even scarier, I have fallen victim.
There were also some fears that I always had confirmed. Like, I worried that being a woman with disabilities would be hard for a partner to handle. Turns out, men with disabilities were more likely to be married while women tend to be alone (14.5% of women versus 8.9% of men). Only 5.8% of women with disabilities even have a child living with them versus the 16.1% of women without disabilities who have children living with them.
Of course, common sense, as the severity of the disability increases, as does the cost. For myself, that includes hearing aids and a prosthetic eye. I am also one of the 86% of women who use prescription medications at least once a week – mine is medical marijuana. This is never covered under any benefit plan anyway, so this is out of pocket regardless.
Education is where I found some hope through government programs and being told wild tales of a beautiful life. Women with disabilities were half as likely to have obtained a bachelor’s degree than those without. This is where I am most fortunate to have been accepted to a couple of programs, two with some financial assistance. That was thanks to the opportunity to attend as many workshops as possible I am part of the cohort of women with disabilities who enjoy the educational experience. I did too! Unfortunately, the academic faculty experience is not nearly as set up for people with disabilities as the academic education side of the institution.
Over half of those with disabilities required more time to complete their studies. I was fortunate with having attended many skills workshops to adapt methods to keep up with my cohort and then some. I also needed to work to pay bills. I always preferred to work over go into further debt. In my PhD years, it will likely be a part of the half that took longer to achieve present level of education. And… I did also feel like the 36% who felt like people avoided them or felt left out of school things. Thankfully, bullying in academia is fairly well dealt with, so of the ~25% who experienced bullying, it was not in my direct experience as a student. As a faculty member, that was another story.
Here is where life as a person with disabilities, who, if they managed to achieve a certain level of education, becomes a missing puzzle piece: in the labour force. Statistics Canada sated in their report that the severity of disability often increases the difficulty of making certain kinds of work unsuitable and require to limit the number of hours they work or may require other workplace accommodations. In general, only ~62% of people with disabilities, ages 25 to 54 participate in the workforce. They are also often expected to end their working life at 55 or even 57 if you look at the government program eligibility criteria. Of course, women experience higher rates of unemployment to men (13.4% to 9.5%). They are more likely to work part time, as women tend to in general.
When you are working, you are involved in more institutions than the government, which can often feel isolating. Indeed, near half of those with disabilities perceived labour force discrimination in that they felt disadvantaged due to their condition or felt that they were perceived to be considered disadvantaged by the employer.
Surprisingly, given all the barriers mentioned above, nearly 28% of women with disabilities reported wages or salaries, at only a few points less than men. Women were less likely to be self-employed though (7.7% and 12.5%). The rest reported assistance of sorts in 2012. Unsurprisingly, however is that women with disabilities have a lower average income compared to all three other cohorts (women without disabilities and men with or without disabilities). In Atlantic Canada, where I live, Women with disabilities reported on average 30,290$ personal income, versus women without at 33,930$. Imagine! I achieved a position of making up to 84,000$ a year at the time of my departure. In Canada, the average increases as a household, but dives deeply if the women with disabilities lives alone.
Even though I face disabilities due to my impairments and chronic pain, my objective is to always be a functional member of society. I have worked so damn hard to craft and thrive only to have been pushed back by visible and invisible barriers. Statistics Canada proved to me the barriers are real just as much as they are perceived.
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