New research from the Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI) reveals that nearly half of Atlanta workers (47 percent) believe unemployment among people with physical and mental disabilities has reached a crisis point. And for good reason: people with disabilities represent America’s largest minority group, but continue to suffer a 65 percent rate of unemployment. When asked to describe the groups of people that the term “equal opportunity” pertains to, only 2 percent of respondents stated “workers with disabilities.”

KEY FINDINGS: Disability In Our Daily Lives
According to Atlanta’s workforce, the following barriers top the list of reasons why employers are reluctant to hire individuals from this group: Half (51%) of Americans have experience either caring for a person with disabilities or being disabled themselves.

One in ten (30%) people currently have or have had a disability. In addition, almost one in three (29%) have cared for someone with a disability.

One in five (20%) have experience caring for someone with a permanent disability.

Restaurants (30%) and retail stores (28%) are the most common locations where people who’ve had first-hand experience with disabilities have encountered situations that limited the physical activity of people with disabilities.

Seventy-four percent of Americans have interacted with people with disabilities.

Among this group, many find individuals with disabilities popping up in their social (47%) and family (41%) lives.

This is also common in the workplace, either as their customers (38%), colleagues (25%), and even supervisors (7%).

Among the 62 percent of Americans who have worked alongside people with disabilities, over eight in ten (82%) felt that their job performance was equal to that of their colleagues without disabilities.

About the Research Study
Two hundred fifty workers in the Atlanta area from small to large companies, and rural, suburban and urban areas, completed detailed phone interviews concerning the issue of working with and employing individuals with disabilities. Survey respondents were asked for their feedback on issues including special hiring/training practices, perceived unemployment rate, employer barriers and costs associated with making workplace accommodations for individuals with disabilities.