New research report on the ‘Economic Costs of Exclusion and Gains of Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities’ funded by CBM

Report Summary:

The report has two parts.The first presents the largest systematic review of disability and poverty.With 80% of studies reporting a link between poverty and disability, the results of this systematic review provide a robust empirical basis to support the theorized disability-poverty link.

The second part focuses on education, work/employment and health; three key life areas in which persons with disabilities experience widespread exclusion as a result of physical, attitudinal, financial and policy barriers.
Basically, the maths tell the story… In Bangladesh, estimates indicated that exclusion of persons with disabilities from the labour market results in a total loss of US$891 million/year .

The costs of exclusion from education may lead to lower employment and earning potential among persons with disabilities. Not only does this make individuals and their families more vulnerable to poverty, but it can also limit national economic growth.  

Whereas, the gains from inclusion speak for themselves: In China, estimates indicated each additional year of schooling for people with disabilities lead to a wage increase of 5% for rural areas and 8% for urban areas. 

Despite the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities being the fastest  human rights treaty to be ratified, persons with disabilities are still experiencing persistent inequalities on almost all indicators of social, political, cultural and economic participation compared to the rest of the population.

This detailed research report is peppered with case studies, many of which were provided by CBM.  They serve to illustrate the hard facts, which we urgently need to persuade decision-makers to take note of the estimated one billion persons with disabilities worldwide.