Census 2000 counted 49.7 million people with some type of long last- ing condition or disabili- ty. 1 They represented 19.3 percent of the 257.2 million people who were aged 5 and older in the civilian non- institutionalized popula- tion — or nearly one person in five (see Table 1). 2 Within this population, Census 2000 found: • 9.3 million (3.6 per- cent) with a sensory disability involving sight or hearing. • 21.2 million (8.2 percent) with a condition limiting basic physical activi- ties, such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying. • 12.4 million (4.8 per- cent) with a physical, mental, or emotional condition causing difficulty in learning, remembering, or concen- trating. • 6.8 million (2.6 percent) with a physi- cal, mental, or emotional condition causing difficulty in dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home. • 18.2 million of those aged 16 and older with a condition that made it difficult to go outside the home to shop or visit a doctor (8.6 percent of U S C E N S U S B U R E A U Helping You Make Informed Decisions U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. CENSUS BUREAU Issued March 2003 C2KBR-17 Disability Status: 2000 Census 2000 Brief By Judith Waldrop and Sharon M. Stern Does this person have any of the following long-lasting conditions: a. Blindness, deafness, or a severe vision or hearing impairment? b. A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying? Yes No Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any of the following activities: a. Learning, remembering, or concentrating? Yes No b. Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home? c. (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor’s office? d. (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Working at a job or business? Figure 1. Reproduction of the Questions on Disability From Census 2000 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire. 16 17 1 The estimates in this report are based on responses from a sample of the population. As with all surveys, estimates may vary from the actual val- ues because of sampling variation or other factors. All statements made in this report have undergone statistical testing and are significant at the 90-per- cent confidence level, unless otherwise noted. 2 In this report, the population universe for peo- ple with disabilities excludes people in the military and people who are in institutions.
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Transcript
Census 2000 counted49.7 million people withsome type of long last-ing condition or disabili-ty.1 They represented19.3 percent of the257.2 million peoplewho were aged 5 andolder in the civilian non-institutionalized popula-tion — or nearly oneperson in five (see Table 1).2 Within thispopulation, Census2000 found:
• 9.3 million (3.6 per-cent) with a sensorydisability involvingsight or hearing.
• 21.2 million (8.2 percent) with acondition limitingbasic physical activi-ties, such as walking,climbing stairs,reaching, lifting, orcarrying.
• 12.4 million (4.8 per-cent) with a physical, mental, or emotional condition causing difficulty
in learning, remembering, or concen-trating.
• 6.8 million (2.6 percent) with a physi-cal, mental, or emotional conditioncausing difficulty in dressing, bathing,or getting around inside the home.
• 18.2 million of those aged 16 andolder with a condition that made itdifficult to go outside the home toshop or visit a doctor (8.6 percent of
U S C E N S U S B U R E A UHelping You Make Informed Decisions
U.S.Department of CommerceEconomics and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
Issued March 2003
C2KBR-17
Disability Status: 2000Census 2000 Brief
By Judith Waldrop and Sharon M. Stern
Does this person have any of the followinglong-lasting conditions:
a. Blindness, deafness, or a severevision or hearing impairment?
b. A condition that substantially limitsone or more basic physical activitiessuch as walking, climbing stairs,reaching, lifting, or carrying?
Yes No
Because of a physical, mental, or emotionalcondition lasting 6 months or more, doesthis person have any difficulty in doing any ofthe following activities:
a. Learning, remembering, orconcentrating?
Yes No
b. Dressing, bathing, or getting aroundinside the home?
c. (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLDOR OVER.) Going outside the homealone to shop or visit a doctor’s office?
d. (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLDOR OVER.) Working at a job or business?
Figure 1.
Reproduction of the Questions on Disability From Census 2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.
16
17
1 The estimates in this report are based onresponses from a sample of the population. As withall surveys, estimates may vary from the actual val-ues because of sampling variation or other factors.All statements made in this report have undergonestatistical testing and are significant at the 90-per-cent confidence level, unless otherwise noted.
2 In this report, the population universe for peo-ple with disabilities excludes people in the militaryand people who are in institutions.
2 U.S. Census Bureau
the 212.0 million people thisage).
• 21.3 million of those aged 16 to64 with a condition that affectedtheir ability to work at a job orbusiness (11.9 percent of the178.7 million people this age).
This report is part of a series thatpresents population and housingdata collected by Census 2000. Itpresents data on the disability sta-tus of people aged 5 and older inthe civilian noninstitutionalizedpopulation, and describes the geo-graphic distribution of people withdisabilities for the United States,3
including regions, states, counties,and places with populations of100,000 or more.
Information on disability was firstcollected in the 1830 census andthe questions have evolved over thedecades. Census 2000 asked twoquestions (see Figure 1) about long-lasting conditions among the popu-lation aged 5 and older. The firstquestion, with two subparts,focused on long-lasting impair-ments involving vision or hearing(sensory disability) and certainphysical limitations, such as difficul-ty walking or climbing stairs (physi-cal disability). The second question,with four subparts, concentrated ondifficulty performing certain activi-ties due to a physical, mental, oremotional condition. People aged 5
and older were asked if they experi-enced difficulty with cognitive taskssuch as learning, remembering, andconcentrating (mental disability).They were also asked about difficul-ty in taking care of personal needslike dressing and bathing (self-caredisability). People aged 16 andolder were asked if they experi-enced difficulty going outside thehome to shop or visit the doctor.Additionally, people in this groupwere asked if a physical, mental, oremotional condition caused themdifficulty working at a job or busi-ness (employment disability).
This report uses a disability statusindicator to present estimates ofthe number and percentage of peo-ple with disabilities. People weredefined as having a disability if
3 The text of this report discusses datafor the United States, including the 50 statesand the District of Columbia. Data for theCommonwealth of Puerto Rico are shown inTable 3 and Figure 5.
Table 1.Characteristics of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population by Age, Disability Status,and Type of Disability: 2000(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, seewww.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
one or more of the following con-ditions were true:
• They were aged 5 or older andresponded “yes” to a sensory,physical, mental, or self-caredisability.
• They were aged 16 years orolder and responded “yes” to adisability affecting going outsidethe home.
• They were between the ages of16 and 64 and responded “yes”to an employment disability.
When referring to people with dis-abilities, this report does not dis-tinguish between people whoresponded positively to only oneof the subparts and those whoresponded positively to more thanone. As a result, the terms “with adisability,” “with any disability,”and “with one or more disabilities”are used interchangeably through-out the report.
Census 2000 asked for disabilityinformation from all people aged 5and older, except those respondingto special military or shipboardquestionnaires. This report consid-
ers only the civilian noninstitution-alized population.
As a result of extensive discussionswith the disability and policyresearch communities, the Census2000 questions on disability weresubstantially different from the1990 questions on this topic. WhileCensus 2000 gathered data fromthe population aged 5 and older,data collected in 1990 came onlyfrom the population aged 15 andolder. The 1990 questions focusedon conditions limiting work, goingoutside the home, and self-care, butdid not specify sensory impair-ments or conditions restrictingwalking, climbing stairs, reaching,lifting, or carrying. Because of themajor differences between the dis-ability questions in 1990 and 2000,comparisons between the two cen-suses are not recommended.
Census 2000 showed disabilityrising with age.
Disability rates rose with age forboth sexes, but significant differ-ences existed between men andwomen, as illustrated in Figure 2.For people under 65 years old, the
prevalence of disability amongmen and boys was higher thanamong women and girls. In con-trast, disability rates were higherfor women than men aged 65 andolder.
Specifically, in 2000, the disabilityrate was 7.2 percent for boys 5 to15 years old and 4.3 percent forgirls the same age. Nearly two-thirds of all children with disabili-ties were boys. Census 2000 found1.7 million boys this age with oneor more disabilities, compared with949,000 girls this age.
Among people aged 16 to 64 in thecivilian noninstitutionalized popula-tion, 19.6 percent of men and 17.6 percent of women reportedone or more disabilities. Amongpeople 65 and older, the disabilityrate was 43.0 percent for womenand 40.4 percent for men. In thisage group, 59.7 percent of peoplewith disabilities were women.However, 58.2 percent of all peopleaged 65 and older were women.
In the civilian noninstitutionalizedpopulation, people 65 and olderwere much more likely than peopleof working age (16 to 64) to reporta sensory, physical, mental, or self-care disability, or a disability caus-ing difficulty going outside thehome (see Figure 3). While only 6.4 percent of working-age adultsexperienced difficulty goingoutside the home alone to shop orvisit the doctor, 20.4 percent ofolder adults reported these prob-lems. Physical disabilities affected6.2 percent of the working-agepopulation and 28.6 percent ofolder adults. About 3.8 percent ofworking-age adults reported diffi-culties in learning, remembering,or concentrating (a mental disabili-ty), compared with 10.8 percent ofolder adults. The prevalence of aself-care disability was more than5 times greater among older adults
U.S. Census Bureau 3
Figure 2.
Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population With Any Disability by Age and Sex: 2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
(For more information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
MaleFemale
43.0
7.2
4.3
19.6
17.6
40.465 and older
16 to 64
5 to 15
(9.5 percent) than among people ofworking age (1.8 percent). Also,the occurrence of sensory disabili-ties was more than 6 times greateramong older adults than working-age people, 14.2 percent comparedwith 2.3 percent.
Disability rates varied amongthe major racial and ethnicgroups.
Census 2000 allowed respondentsto choose more than one race.With the exception of the Two ormore races group, all race groupsdiscussed in this report refer topeople who indicated only oneracial identity among the six majorcategories: White, Black or AfricanAmerican, American Indian andAlaska Native, Asian, NativeHawaiian and Other PacificIslander, and Some other race.4
The use of the single-race popula-tion in this report does not implythat it is the preferred method ofpresenting or analyzing data. TheCensus Bureau uses a variety ofapproaches.5
Interestingly, people who indicatedthat they were White (and no otherrace) and were not of Hispanic orLatino origin had a low overalldisability rate despite the fact thattheir median age was higher thanfor other racial and ethnic groups
examined in this brief.6 In Census2000, they reported a disabilityrate of 18.3 percent, comparedwith 19.3 percent for all noninsti-tutionalized civilians aged 5 andolder, as shown in Table 2.7
Among the racial and ethnicgroups examined in this report,the highest overall estimateddisability rate, 24.3 percent, wasshared by two groups — people
who reported Black and peoplewho reported American Indian andAlaska Native. The disability ratesfor these two groups were higherthan the rates for non-HispanicWhites in each of the broad agegroups investigated in this report(see Table 2). Among children 5 to15 years old, the disability ratewas 5.7 percent for non-HispanicWhites, but 7.0 percent for Blackchildren and 7.7 percent forAmerican Indian and Alaska Nativechildren. Although the disabilityrate was 16.2 percent for non-Hispanic Whites of working age (16to 64), it was 26.4 percent forBlacks and 27.0 percent forAmerican Indians and AlaskaNatives. Among people 65 andolder, the rates were 40.4, 52.8,and 57.6 percent, respectively.
Asians who reported only one racehad the lowest overall disability
4 U.S. Census Bureau
Figure 3.
Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population With a Disability by Age and Type of Disability: 2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
(For more information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
16 to 6465 and older
Physicaldisability
Difficultygoing outside
Sensorydisability
Mentaldisability
Self-caredisability
1.8
28.6
6.2
20.4
6.4
14.2
2.3
10.8
3.8
9.5
4 For further information on each of the 6major race groups and the Two or moreraces population, see reports from theCensus 2000 Brief series (C2KBR/01), avail-able on the Census 2000 Web site atwww.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html.
5 This report draws heavily on SummaryFile 3, a Census 2000 product that can beaccessed through American FactFinder, avail-able from the Census Bureau’s Web site,www.census.gov. Information on people whoreported more than one race, such as “Whiteand American Indian and Alaska Native” or“Asian and Black or African American,” isforthcoming in Summary File 4, which willalso be available through American FactFinderin 2003. About 2.6 percent of people report-ed more than one race.
6 For information on median age, seeAge: 2000 (C2KBR/01-12).
7 Hereafter this report uses the term Blackto refer to people who are Black or AfricanAmerican, the term Pacific Islander to refer topeople who are Native Hawaiian and OtherPacific Islander, and the term Hispanic to referto people who are Hispanic or Latino.
Because Hispanics may be of any race,data in this report for Hispanics overlap withdata for racial groups. Based on Census 2000sample data, the proportion Hispanic was 8.0percent for Whites, 1.9 percent for Blacks,14.6 percent for American Indians and AlaskaNatives, 1.0 percent for Asians, 9.5 percentfor Pacific Islanders, 97.1 percent for thosereporting Some other race, and 31.1 percentfor those reporting Two or more races.
U.S. Census Bureau 5
rate of any of the racial and ethnicgroups examined in this report:16.6 percent. Their child disabilityrate, 2.9 percent, was also thelowest. The disability rate forworking-age Asians (16.9 percent)was slightly higher than the ratefor working-age non-HispanicWhites, whereas the rates forthose 65 and older were not sig-nificantly different.
The overall disability rate for single-race Pacific Islanders (19.0 percent)and their child disability rate (5.1 percent) were both slightlyhigher than the corresponding ratesfor Asians, but not statistically dif-ferent from the rates for non-Hispanic Whites. However, the ratesfor Pacific Islander working-ageadults (21.0 percent) and olderadults (48.5 percent) were higherthan the rates for Asians and non-Hispanic Whites in these same agegroups.
Even though people reporting twoor more races had the lowestmedian age among the racial orethnic groups examined in this
report, their disability rates wereamong the highest in 2000 — 21.7 percent overall. Among thosereporting two or more races, 7.1 percent of children, 25.1 per-cent of working-age adults, and51.8 percent of older adults report-ed at least one disability.
The overall disability rate washigher for Hispanics (20.9 percent)than for non-Hispanic Whites (18.3 percent). However, their childdisability rate was lower — (5.4 percent compared with 5.7 percent). Still, the disabilityrates for Hispanics of working-age(24.0 percent) and older (48.5 per-cent) exceeded the rates for non-Hispanic Whites.
GEOGRAPHICDISTRIBUTION OF PEOPLEWITH DISABILITIES
The following discussion on thegeographic distribution of peoplewith disabilities is based on thecivilian noninstitutionalized popu-lation aged 5 and older.
Almost two out of every fivepeople with a disability livedin the South, while about onein five lived in each of theother three regions of theUnited States.8
Even though 35.5 percent of thecivilian noninstitutionalized popu-lation 5 and older lived in theSouth in 2000, this region washome to 38.3 percent of peoplewith disabilities, as shown inFigure 4. The 20.9-percent disabili-ty rate in the South was higherthan the rate in any other region.This high rate, coupled with the
Table 2.Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population With Any Disability by Ageand Selected Race and Hispanic Origin Groups: 2000(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, seewww.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180,151,084 18.3 5.7 16.2 40.4
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
8 The Northeast region includes the statesof Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, NewHampshire, New Jersey, New York,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. TheMidwest region includes the states of Illinois,Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Southregion includes the states of Alabama,Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi,North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina,Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, andthe District of Columbia, a state equivalent.The West region includes the states of Alaska,Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah,Washington, and Wyoming.
fact that the South contained thelargest total population among thefour regions, accounted for thefact that the South recorded thelargest disabled population in2000 — 19.1 million people.
The West and the Midwest had thesecond and third largest disabledpopulations — 10.8 million and10.5 million, respectively.However, the percentage of peoplewith disabilities was low in boththese regions — 18.7 percent inthe West and 17.7 percent in theMidwest. Among the four regions,the Northeast had the fewest peo-ple with disabilities — 9.5 millionor 19.2 percent of its total popula-tion — but it also had the smallesttotal population.
Among the states, thedisability rate was highest inWest Virginia.
Among the 50 states and theDistrict of Columbia, the highestdisability rates were in the South,as shown in Table 3. West Virginia,the state with the highest medianage in the United States, alsorecorded the highest disabilityrate, 24.4 percent. It was followedclosely by four other southernstates: Kentucky (23.7 percent),Arkansas (23.6 percent),Mississippi (23.6 percent), andAlabama (23.2 percent).9 Not allstates in the South had high dis-ability rates. In fact, Delaware,Maryland, and Virginia had disabili-ty rates that were significantlybelow the national rate.
Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky,Mississippi, and West Virginia —the states with highest overall dis-ability rates — also registered highrates for each of the individual
measures. For example, inMississippi 4.8 percent of peoplereported a sensory disability, 11.3 percent reported a physicaldisability, and 6.4 percent reporteda mental disability. These ratesexceeded the national rates of 3.6 percent, 8.2 percent, and 4.8 percent, respectively.10
The states with the lowest disabili-ty rates were in the West andMidwest. Alaska (14.9 percent),Utah (14.9 percent), and Minnesota(15.0 percent) topped the list ofstates with the lowest disabilityrates.11 Wisconsin and Nebraska,both of which had an estimateddisability rate of 16.0 percent, fol-lowed.12
Minnesota and Utah registered lowrates by every measure. Even so,low disability rates by one measuredid not guarantee low rates byevery measure. For example,Nevada had one of the lowest
percentages of the civilian noninsti-tutionalized population with difficul-ty learning, remembering, or con-centrating (mental disability), 3.8percent compared with 4.8 percentnationwide. However, among thecivilian noninstitutionalized popula-tion 16 to 64 years old, the percent-age of Nevadans who reported diffi-culty working at a job or businesswas high, 14.5 percent comparedwith 11.9 percent, nationally.
In 2000, counties with veryhigh disability rates wereclustered in the coal miningareas of Kentucky, WestVirginia, and Virginia.13
Included in this group of countieswere Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Harlan,Leslie, Martin, and Owsley countiesin Kentucky; Buchanan County,Virginia; and McDowell County,
6 U.S. Census Bureau
Figure 4.
Percent Distribution of All Noninstitutionalized Civilians Aged 5 and Older and All People With Disabilities by Region: 2000
Note: Numbers may not add to 100 percent due to rounding.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
Percentage of peoplewith disabilities
Percentage of total
Northeast WestSouthMidwest
19.0 21.0 38.3 21.6
19.2 22.9 35.5 22.4
9 The disability rate for Kentucky was notsignificantly different than the rates forArkansas or Mississippi, and the rate forArkansas is not significantly different thanthe rate for Mississippi.
10 The rate of sensory disability inMississippi and the rate of mental disabilityin the United States are not significantly dif-ferent.
11 The disability rates in Alaska, Utah, andMinnesota were not significantly differentfrom one another.
12 The disability rate in Nebraska was notsignificantly different from the rate forColorado (16.3 percent).
13 Although the point estimate for the dis-ability rate in Kalawao county, Hawaii, (60 percent) was the highest, it was not sta-tistically different from high disability ratesin other counties. Kalawao County registereda high disability rate in Census 2000 in partbecause of its charter. According to Hawaiistate law (§324-34(b)), it is “under the juris-diction and control of the [state] departmentof health and is governed by the laws andrules relating to the department and the careand treatment of persons affected withHansen’s disease.” Hansen’s disease is alsocalled leprosy.
U.S. Census Bureau 7
Table 3.Disability Status of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population of the United States,Regions, States, and for Puerto Rico: 2000(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
Area
Population 5 and older Population 16 and older Population 16 to 64
Number
Percentage with selected disabilities
Number
Percentagewith difficulty
going outsidethe home Number
Percentagewith
employmentdisability
Anydisability
Sensorydisability
Physicaldisability
Mentaldisability
Self-caredisability
United States . . 257,167,527 19.3 3.6 8.2 4.8 2.6 212,033,860 8.6 178,687,234 11.9
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
8 U.S. Census Bureau
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West Virginia, as shown in Figure 5.Counties with high disability ratescovered most of the South, with theexception of the Atlanta metropoli-tan area and a few counties scat-tered around the region.
The West, especially Colorado, con-tained many of the counties withthe lowest disability rates. Thedisability rate was about 10 per-cent or less in Yakutat City andBorough in Alaska; Douglas,Gunnison, Routt, and San Miguelcounties in Colorado; MadisonCounty, Idaho, Summit County,Utah, and Teton County, Wyoming.
Counties with disability ratesbelow the national rate distin-guished the upper Midwest, espe-cially the Minneapolis-St. Paul met-ropolitan area. Grant County,Nebraska, had a disability rate ofabout 10 percent. In fact, only ahandful of counties in either theMidwest or the Northeast exhibitedextremely high rates of disability.Many counties with low rates werefound in the high-density area thatstretched from New York City toRichmond, Virginia.
More than one person in fourreported a disability in eachof the ten places with thehighest disability rates.
Among places with populations of100,000 or more,14 Paterson, NewJersey; Miami, Florida; and Newark,New Jersey, registered the highestproportions of people with disabili-ties, as shown in Table 4.15 At leastone person in four experiencedsome type of disability in each ofthe ten places with the highestpoint estimates for disability. Mostof these places were older industri-al cities. High concentrations ofBlacks, Hispanics, and otherpopulations exhibiting high disabil-ity rates were also common inthese areas.
In 2000, many of the places withthe lowest disability rates were
fast growing areas on the outskirtsof metropolitan areas — placeswith high concentrations of fami-lies with children (see Table 5).Naperville, Illinois, was the placewith the lowest percentage of peo-ple with disabilities, 7.9 percent.One of the reasons why someplaces had low disability rates maybe that only a small proportion ofresidents were aged 65 and older.Provo, Utah; Gilbert, Arizona;Plano, Texas; and Carrollton,Texas, were among the ten placeswith the lowest disability rates andthe lowest percentage of older resi-dents.16
ADDITIONAL FINDINGS ONPEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
How many people had morethan one disability in 2000?
Disability measures from Census2000 were not mutually exclusiveand 46.3 percent of people withany disability reported more thanone. A person with a single condi-tion might report both a physicaldisability and an employment dis-ability. For example, a person withsevere asthma may have alsoexperienced difficulty climbingstairs and difficulty working at ajob or business. The people whoresponded positively to more thanone of the Census 2000 disabilityquestions demonstrated the degreeto which a long-lasting physical,mental, or emotional conditioncould affect more than one aspectof a person’s life.
Of the people who reported anemployment disability, 56.4 percentalso reported at least one othertype of condition. (See Figure 6.)Additionally, 63.7 percent of people
U.S. Census Bureau 9
Table 4.Ten Places of 100,000 or More With the HighestPercentage of People Aged 5 and Older With Disabilitiesin the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population: 2000(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and defini-tions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/sf3.pdf)
Place Number with disabilities Percent Margin of error*
* When the margin of error is added to or subtracted from the estimate, it produces a 90-percentconfidence interval.
Note: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different fromone another or from other places not listed in this table.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
14 Census 2000 shows 245 places in theUnited States with 100,000 or more popula-tion. They include 238 incorporated places(including 4 city-county consolidations) and7 census designated places that are notlegally incorporated. For a list of theseplaces by state, see www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t6.html.
15 The disability rates in Paterson, Miami,and Newark were not significantly differentfrom one another. The percentage in Newarkwas not significantly different than Detroit.
16 The disability rates in Provo, Gilbert, andPlano were not significantly different from oneanother. For more information on the popula-tion aged 65 and over, see The 65 Years andOver Population: 2000 (C2KBR/01-10).
with a sensory disability, 67.6 per-cent of people with a physical dis-ability, and 70.9 percent of peoplewith a mental disability reportedmore than one condition. Amongpeople with difficulty going outsidethe home, 81.5 percent indicated atleast one other measure of disabili-ty. The disability most likely to belinked to multiple conditions wasthe self-care measure — 97.0 per-cent of people who marked thistype of condition also reported oneor more of the other measures ofdisability.
Were people with disabilitiesless likely to be employedthan others?
Census 2000 showed that peoplebetween the ages of 16 and 64were less likely to be employed ifthey were disabled (see Figure 7).While 79.9 percent of working-agemen without a disability wereemployed, only 60.1 percent ofthose with a disability worked.Among women of working age, therespective employment rates were67.3 percent and 51.4 percent.Altogether, 10.4 million men and8.2 million women with disabilitieswere employed.
How many people withdisabilities lived in poverty in 2000?17
In 2000, 8.7 million people with dis-abilities were poor — a substantiallyhigher proportion (17.6 percent)than was found among people aged5 and older without disabilities(10.6 percent). However, the patternof poverty by age was similar forboth groups, with the highestpoverty rates found among childrenaged 5 to 15 (see Figure 8). The
poverty rate for young people withdisabilities was 25.0 percent, com-pared with 15.7 percent for thosewithout disabilities. The next high-est poverty rates for both groupswere found among people 16 to 64
years old — 18.8 percent for thosewith disabilities, nearly double therate for those without (9.6 percent).Among people 65 years old andover, the respective proportionswere 13.2 percent and 7.4 percent.
10 U.S. Census Bureau
Table 5.Ten Places of 100,000 or More With the Lowest Percentageof People Aged 5 and Older With Disabilities in theCivilian Noninstitutionalized Population: 2000(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and defini-tions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/sf3.pdf)
Place Number with disabilities Percent Margin of error*
* When the margin of error is added to or subtracted from the estimate, it produces a 90-percentconfidence interval.
Note: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different fromone another or from other places not listed in this table.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
Figure 6.
Percent Distribution of People With Disabilities in the Noninstitutionalized Civilian Population by Type and Number of Disabilities: 2000
Note: The statistics for difficulty going outside the home are only for people aged 16 and older. The statistics on employment disability are only for people 16 to 64. All other disability estimates include people 5 and older.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
(For more information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
One disability onlyTwo or more disabilities
Self-care disability
Difficulty going outside
Mental disability
Physical disability
Sensory disability
Employment disability 43.6
36.3
32.4
29.1
18.5
3.0
56.4
63.7
67.6
70.9
81.5
97.0
17 Poverty status was determined for allnoninstitutionalized civilians, except those inmilitary group quarters and dormitories, andunrelated individuals under age 15. Formore information on poverty, see www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html.
ABOUT CENSUS 2000
Why Census 2000 AskedAbout Disability
Information on disability is used bya number of federal agencies todistribute funds and develop pro-grams for people with disabilitiesand the elderly. Among these arethe Carl D. Perkins Vocational andApplied Technology Training Act,the School Dropout Demonstration
Assistance Act, and State LiteracyInitiatives. Data about the number,distribution, and needs of peoplewith disabilities are essential underthe Rehabilitation Act, which guar-antees benefits to qualified peoplewith disabilities. Data about difficul-ties going outside the home andwork disabilities are important toensure comparable public trans-portation services for all segmentsof the population, according to the
goals of the Americans WithDisabilities Act. Disability data alsoare used to allocate funds foremployment and job training pro-grams for veterans under theDisabled Veterans OutreachProgram. Under the OlderAmericans Act, federal grants areawarded based on the number ofelderly people with physical andmental disabilities. Medicare andmedicaid programs and federal edu-cation programs also use data onpeople with disabilities.
Accuracy of the Estimates
The data contained in this reportare based on the sample of house-holds who responded to theCensus 2000 long form.Nationally, approximately one outof every six housing units wasincluded in this sample. As aresult, the sample estimates maydiffer somewhat from the100-per-cent figures that would have beenobtained if all housing units, peo-ple within those housing units, andpeople living in group quarters hadbeen enumerated using the samequestionnaires, instructions, enu-merators, and so forth. The sam-ple estimates also differ from thevalues that would have beenobtained from different samples ofhousing units, people within thosehousing units, and people living ingroup quarters. The deviation of asample estimate from the averageof all possible samples is called thesampling error.
In addition to the variability thatarises from the sampling proce-dures, both sample data and 100-percent data are subject tononsampling error. Nonsamplingerror may be introduced duringany of the various complex opera-tions used to collect and processdata. Such errors may include:not enumerating every householdor every person in the population,failing to obtain all required
U.S. Census Bureau 11
Figure 7.
Employed Men and Women Aged 16 to 64 as a Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population by Disability Status: 2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
(For more information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
With a disabilityWithout a disability
51.4
60.1
67.3
79.9Men
Women
Figure 8.
Poverty Rates for People With and Without Disabilities in the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population by Age: 2000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
13.2
(For more information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)
With a disabilityWithout a disability
7.4
25.0
15.7
18.8
9.6
65 and older
16 to 64
5 to 15
information from the respondents,obtaining incorrect or inconsistentinformation, and recording infor-mation incorrectly. In addition,errors can occur during the fieldreview of the enumerators’ work,during clerical handling of the cen-sus questionnaires, or during theelectronic processing of the ques-tionnaires.
Nonsampling error may affect thedata in two ways: (1) errors thatare introduced randomly willincrease the variability of the dataand, therefore, should be reflectedin the standard errors; and (2)errors that tend to be consistent inone direction will bias both sampleand 100-percent data in that direc-tion. For example, if respondentsconsistently tend to underreporttheir incomes, then the resultingestimates of households or fami-lies by income category will tendto be understated for the higherincome categories and overstatedfor the lower income categories.Such biases are not reflected in thestandard errors.
While it is impossible to completelyeliminate error from an operationas large and complex as the decen-
nial census, the Census Bureauattempts to control the sources ofsuch error during the data collec-tion and processing operations.The primary sources of error andthe programs instituted to controlerror in Census 2000 are describedin detail in Summary File 3Technical Documentation underChapter 8, “Accuracy of the Data,”located at www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf.
All statements in this Census 2000Brief have undergone statisticaltesting and all comparisons aresignificant at the 90-percent confi-dence level, unless otherwisenoted. Further information on theaccuracy of the data is located atwww.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf. For further informa-tion on the computation and use ofstandard errors, contact theDecennial Statistical StudiesDivision at 301-763-4242.
For More Information
For more information on peoplewith disabilities in the UnitedStates, visit the U.S. CensusBureau’s Internet site on disabilityat www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability.html. Data on people with
disabilities from Census 2000Summary File 3 were released on astate-by-state basis during thesummer of 2002. The Census 2000Summary File 3 data are availableon the Internet via factfinder.census.gov and for pur-chase on CD-ROM and on DVD.
For information on confidentialityprotection, nonsampling error,sampling error, and definitions,also see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf or contactour Customer Services Center at301-763-INFO (4636).
Information on other populationand housing topics is presented inthe Census 2000 Brief series, locat-ed on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Website at www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html. Thisseries presents information onrace, Hispanic origin, age, sex,household type, housing tenure,and other social, economic, andhousing characteristics.
For more information aboutCensus 2000, including data prod-ucts, call our Customer ServicesCenter at 301-763-INFO (4636), ore-mail [email protected].
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