51%: half of people limited by a health problem for at least six months and aged 15 to 64 were employed in 2021 compared to 70% of able-bodied people, according to the INSEE Employment survey. The unemployment rate for this category, which corresponds to the global activity limitation indicator (GALI), reached 13% compared to 8% for the able-bodied. In their contribution to the scientific mediation project “What do we know about work? » of Interdisciplinary laboratory for public policy evaluation (Liepp), broadcast in collaboration with the Presses de Sciences Po on the Employment channel of the Lemonde.fr site, researchers Anne Revillard, Célia Bouchet and Mathéa Boudinet draw up an inventory of the integration of disabled people in companies.
After specifying that work could itself create disability among employees, through work accidents and occupational illnesses, the authors note that, despite greater tolerance from companies and real progress in the will policy of integrating them into a real work situation, many obstacles persist.
Less present in the world of work, disabled people also occupy less qualified jobs – 55% of them are workers and employees compared to 44% in the able-bodied population – and more often work part-time. With an equal socio-professional profile, “there are pay gaps of several hundred euros between employed people who grew up with severe visual or hearing limitations and able-bodied people”.
A good portion of the people concerned are poor: according to a study dating from 2011, one in five people who grew up with a disability receive less than 10,000 euros per year in work income. This proportion reaches 38.7% for individuals with severe cognitive limitations.
The profiles of people with disabilities are very heterogeneous, particularly in terms of their nature and time of onset. People with disabilities from birth and people with psychological disabilities or severe visual limitations are much more often unemployed.
These findings can be explained by two categories of causes: the lack of accessibility at the scale of society or business (lack of adapted equipment, unsuitability of transport, buildings, etc.), and the stigmatization which persists at all stages of life.
There are public policies towards companies and institutions, which have partly proven their worth: they are notably obliged to hire 6% of disabled employees or agents, failing which they must pay a contribution financial. Unfortunately, in 2021, this direct employment rate is only 3.5% in private and public companies, and 5.4% in the public service.
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