JAN is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.

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State of Disability Employment: Convergence

Lou Orslene, JAN Co-Director, MSW, MPIA, CPDM

http://askjan.org/landingpage/Hawaii2014/

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Convergence

CONVERGENCE

Globally 1 billion people with disabilities

World Health Organization, 2011

U.S.56.7 million people

U.S. Census Bureau, 2010.

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Elements Converging

On January 1, 2011, the first of the 83 million-strong wave of “boomers” began to reach retirement age and every day approximately 10,000 more employees reach this milestone.

Pew Research Center http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=1150

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Elements Converging

“19% of people with disabilities have reportedly graduated from college…these figures have increased…from 14%...in 2004”

“Although one-in-six people with disabilities has not completed high school, there has still been marked progress…82% of people with disabilities have graduated from high school today, this share was only 61% in 1986.”

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Elements Converging

“The most recent data from the DoD reportthat more than 47,000 OEF/OIF service

members have been wounded in action.” U.S. Department of Defense Press Resources, 2012

“Hundreds of thousands more, nearly 25 percent of all who served in OEF/OIF, will be diagnosed upon returning home with other “invisible wounds,” such as degenerative vision, hearing impairments, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and brain injuries. Workplace Warriors Revisited: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned from Deployment and Reintegration of Citizen Soldiers

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Elements Converging

“While working at Merrill Lynch, Rich Donovan, who has cerebral palsy, looked at disabled people as an emerging market and found it much bigger than he expected:

1.1 billion people, that’s the size of China.

He noted two trends. A generation of people who had benefited from disability laws is coming out of education and into work; second, as the babyboomers age, disabilities are spreading rapidly. That means rising demand for products and services for this unprecedentedly wealthy and consumerist generation.”From the Economist: “The new green - Business may find disability as important as environmentalism.

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Elements Converging

Emerging Markets: People With Disabilities

• aggregate income that now exceeds $1 trillion and boasts $220 billion in discretionary spending power. Marketing programs aimed at people with disabilities can reach as many as four out of every 10 consumers. As the largest of all U.S.-based minority groups, this group is comprised of people of all ethnic backgrounds, cultures and ages.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1990 and 2000, the number of Americans with disabilities increased 25 percent. Of the nearly 70 million families in the United States, more than 20 million families have at least one member with a disability.

Business Case for Inclusion and Engagement. By Marcus Robinson, Charles Pfeffer, and Joan Buccigrossi, (2003). wetWare, Inc. Rochester, NY.

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Elements Converging

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Elements Converging

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

New Regulations became effective March 24, 2014

Covers all Federal Contracts and Subcontracts in excess of $10,000 are covered.

Researchers approximate there to be 15 million people employed by Federal Contractors/Subcontractors

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Elements Converging

Executive Order -- Minimum Wage for ContractorsEXECUTIVE ORDER - - - - - - - ESTABLISHING A MINIMUM WAGE FOR CONTRACTORS Section 1. Policy. This order seeks to increase efficiency and

cost savings in the work performed by parties who contract with the Federal Government by increasing to $10.10 the hourly minimum wage paid by those contractors. Raising the pay of low-wage workers increases their morale and the productivity and quality of their work, lowers turnover and its accompanying costs, and reduces supervisory costs. These savings and quality improvements will lead to improved economy and efficiency in Government procurement.

(i) $10.10 per hour beginning January 1, 2015; and

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Elements Converging

The Conference BoardLeveling the Playing FieldATTRACTING, ENGAGING, ANDADVANCING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

1. Because the occurrence of disability increases with age, the proportion of the talent pool with disabilities

will grow as the U.S. population ages. In addition, technological innovations that widen access to the

workplace and health care advances that extend and improve life will also increase the proportion of the

talent pool composed of people with disabilities.

2. Existing incentives and proposed quotas—especially for those doing business with the U.S. government

and foreign governments—that establish quotas and levy fines will increase the motivation to hire people

with disabilities.

3. Changing attitudes toward remote work and the increasing availability of technologies that enable remote

work, increase access to information and communication technologies, and offer wider application of

universal design will further improve access.

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Convergence

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Questions?