MINNESOTA DISABILITY PROFILE
An Analysis of 2000 Census Data
Nearly one of every six Minnesotans (15.8%) has at least one kind of disability, according to data from the 2000 U.S. census.
The presence of certain disabilities is one of the topics included in the census. Disabilities are not covered in depth, but the large sample of respondents provided by the census allows for detailed analysis that might not be possible with other surveys. The question this study seeks to answer is: What are the demographic characteristics and the economic situations of people with disabilities in Minnesota?
The 2000 U.S. census asks about six different kinds of disabilities. Four questions refer to persons five years old or older, and two refer to persons sixteen years old or older. All questions require a simple "Yes" or "No" answer. No data was collected on children under 5 years of age. The full set of questions appears below:
- Does this person have any of the following long-lasting conditions:
- Blindness, deafness, or a severe vision or hearing impairment?
- A condition that substantially limits one or more physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying?
- 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:
- Learning, remembering, or concentrating?
- Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home?
- (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor's office?
- (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Working at a job or business?
Data for this study was obtained from the Public Use Micro Sample (PUMS), a 5 percent sample of all census records on individuals and households collected in Minnesota in 2000. All information that could be used to identify an individual was removed when the PUMS file was constructed. The 5 percent PUMS sample for Minnesota contains records for nearly 250,000 persons and is representative of the Minnesota population.
Disabilities and Age
Figure 1 shows that the percentage of persons with disabilities rises gradually during the childhood and adult years and then escalates rapidly after age 70. Over 70 percent of people 85 years old or older reported at least one type of disability. Despite the rapid escalation of disabilities in the older years, two-thirds of people with disabilities are under 65, and the median age is 51. Because disabilities are closely tied to age, we will look separately at three broad age groups-5 to 17, 18 to 64, and 65 and older.
Children Ages 5-17 Years Old
Approximately 59,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17 (6.1% of this age group) had one or more of the disabilities studied by the census in 2000. Difficulties with learning, remembering or concentrating accounted for most of the reported disabilities.
Table 1. Types of disabilities reported for children 5-17 years old
| Percent with disability | |
|---|---|
| Blindness, deafness, severe vision or hearing impairment | 0.8% |
| Difficulty with basic physical activities | 0.8% |
| Difficulty learning, remembering, concentrating | 4.6% |
| Difficulty with self care | 0.7% |
| One or more disabilities | 6.1% |
Children with disabilities were much more likely to be male; 63.2 percent were male and 36.8 percent were female. Children with disabilities were slightly more likely to be American Indian or African American compared to children without disabilities. Nearly one-third of children with disabilities (32.1%) live in one-parent families, compared to only 21.2 percent of children with no disabilities. In economic terms, children with disabilities were more likely to live in households that were below or near the poverty level, had lower household incomes, and rented rather than owned their home. They were somewhat more likely to attend public schools than were children with no disabilities. (See Table 2.)
Table 2. Characteristics of children with and without disabilities Children 5-17 years of age With one or more disabilities With no disabilities
| Children 5-17 years of age | ||
|---|---|---|
| With one or more disabilities | With no disabilities | |
| Percent who are male | 63.2% | 50.5% |
| Percent American Indian | 4.4% | 2.4% |
| Percent Black/African American | 8.0% | 5.9% |
| Percent Asian | 4.8% | 4.5% |
| Percent White | 83.8% | 87.6% |
| Percent Hispanic/Latino | 4.8% | 3.8% |
| Percent in single parent family | 32.1% | 21.2% |
| Percent living in rental unit | 20.6% | 15.3% |
| Percent living in privately owned home | 76.6% | 84.4% |
| Percent living in institution or group quarters | 2.8% | 0.3% |
| Percent in households under poverty level | 15.6% | 9.2% |
| Percent in households under 200% of poverty level | 35.5% | 25.0% |
| Average household income | $59,870 | $72,548 |
| Median household income | $49,700 | $59,900 |
| Percent with no vehicle or one vehicle in household | 27.4% | 19.4% |
| Percent enrolled in public school | 92.0% | 86.2% |
| Percent enrolled in private school | 5.6% | 11.4% |
| Percent not attending school | 2.4% | 2.4% |
Adults 18-64 Years Old
Approximately 426,000 Minnesota adults between the ages of 18 and 64, representing 14.0 percent of this age group, had one or more of the disabilities studied by the census in 2000. Disabilities that made it difficult to work at certain kinds of jobs or businesses were the most common type of disability reported. About 6.4 percent of adults 18-64 years old reported having two or more kinds of disabilities.
Table 3.Types of disabilities reported for adults 18-64 years old
| Percent with disability | |
|---|---|
| Blindness, deafness, severe vision or hearing impairment | 1.9% |
| Difficulty with basic physical activities | 5.0% |
| Difficulty learning, remembering, concentrating | 3.4% |
| Difficulty with self care | 1.4% |
| Difficulty going out alone (shopping, etc.) | 4.1% |
| Difficulty working at a job or business | 8.9% |
| One or more disabilities | 14.0% |
Adults 18-64 years old are slightly more likely to be male than female, but the disparity is not as large as we found earlier among children. Disabilities were more likely to be present among American Indian, African American, Asian and Latino adults. Compared to adults with no disabilities, adults with disabilities were less likely to be married and were nearly twice as likely to be widowed, divorced or separated. Persons with disabilities were less likely to own their own homes and more likely to be living in group quarters (prison, institution, group home and so forth) or to be renters. (See Table 4.)
Disabilities are strongly associated with an individual's prospects for work. During the prime working years of 18 to 64 years old, only 63.3 percent of persons with disabilities were working at the time the census was taken. The percentage of persons with disabilities who were not working was more than twice as high as for persons with no disabilities. Furthermore, only 39.4 percent of adults with disabilities had worked full-time, year-round in the previous year (1999). For those who do have work, average earnings from wages, salaries or self-employment for persons with disabilities are substantially lower than for those with no disabilities.
The poverty rate for persons with disabilities is twice as high as the poverty rate for adults without disabilities. About one-third of adults with disabilities (32.5%) have household incomes less than 200% of the poverty level. Note that the poverty rate is generally not calculated for persons living in group quarters, so that the true number of low-income individuals is higher than that officially reported by the census.
Educational attainment was strongly associated with the presence of disabilities. Compared with adults who had no disabilities, adults with disabilities were three times more likely to be high school dropouts and were much less likely to have completed college. Low educational attainment may be associated with more dangerous jobs, less access to health care, and greater risk-taking behavior, all of which could increase the likelihood of disabilities. On the other hand, pre-existing disabilities may have made it difficult for people to get an advanced education. Unfortunately, the census alone cannot tell us which explanation is more likely.
Table 4. Characteristics of adults 18-64 with and without disabilities
|
Adults 18-64 years of age |
|
|---|---|---|
| With one or more disabilities | With no disabilities | |
| Percent who are male | 53.6% | 49.7% |
| Percent American Indian | 2.7% | 1.4% |
| Percent Black/African American | 6.1% | 3.2% |
| Percent Asian | 4.1% | 2.7% |
| Percent White | 86.7% | 92.2% |
| Percent Hispanic/Latino | 3.7% | 2.6% |
| Percent now married | 49.4% | 62.0% |
| Percent widowed, divorced or separated | 20.7% | 11.1% |
| Percent never married | 29.9% | 26.9% |
| Percent living in rental unit | 27.9% | 19.5% |
| Percent living in privately owned home | 65.9% | 78.2% |
| Percent living in institution or group quarters | 6.2% | 2.2% |
| Percent who are currently working | 63.3% | 82.9% |
| Percent who worked full-time year-round in the previous year | 39.4% | 56.9% |
| Percent in households under poverty level | 15.0% | 6.0% |
| Percent in households under 200% of poverty level | 32.5% | 16.0% |
| Average individual earnings* | $26,978 | $34,951 |
| Median individual earnings* | $21,000 | $27,500 |
| Average household income | $50,466 | $71,503 |
| Median household income | $41,400 | $60,000 |
| Percent with no vehicle or one vehicle in household | 37.4% | 21.4% |
| Percent who did not graduate from high school** | 17.4% | 5.9% |
| Percent high school graduates only** | 34.6% | 26.0% |
| Percent with some college** | 32.5% | 35.0% |
| Percent college graduates** | 15.5% | 33.0% |
| * | Calculated only for persons with at least $100 in earnings for the previous year. About 25% of persons with disabilities reported earnings less than $100, compared to only 9% of persons without disabilities. |
| ** | Educational attainment is calculated only for persons 25 and older, since many 18-24 year-olds are still in school. |
Elderly 65 Years Old and Older
Approximately 240,000 Minnesota adults 65 years old or older, representing 40.4 percent of this age group, had one or more of the disabilities studied by the census in 2000. Note that the census does not count an employment disability as a disability if the person is 65 or older.
Table 5. Types of disabilities reported for adults 65 and older
| Percent with disability | |
|---|---|
| Blindness, deafness, severe vision or hearing impairment | 13.9% |
| Difficulty with basic physical activities | 27.8% |
| Difficulty learning, remembering, concentrating | 10.5% |
| Difficulty with self care | 10.9% |
| Difficulty going out alone (shopping, etc.) | 21.1% |
| One or more disabilities | 40.4%* |
| * | While the census asks about employment disabilities, it does not consider a person 65 and older to be disabled if their only reported disability is related to employment. |
Difficulties with basic physical activities and with going out alone were the most common reported disabilities. In this age group, 22.0 percent (more than half of those with disabilities) reported having at least two kinds of disabilities.
Among the elderly, only 39.3 percent of those with disabilities were male and 60.7 percent were female. However, the lower number of disabled males is due primarily to the lower number of males in this age group. No reliable racial differences can be detected because the number of people of color in this age range is small. Older adults with disabilities are more likely to be widowed, divorced or separated than their non-disabled counterparts. (See table 6.)
Nearly one-fifth of older Minnesotans with disabilities (18.0%) were living in group quarters, primarily nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Older adults with disabilities were also more likely to be renters compared with those with no disabilities.
Poverty rates were much higher for older adults with disabilities. Fully 39.0 percent of older adults with disabilities reported household income less than 200% of the poverty level, compared to 23.7 percent of those with no disabilities. Moreover, poverty data is generally not reported for persons in group quarters, so the large number of elderly in group quarters are not counted among the poor or near-poor. Elderly persons with disabilities reported much lower household incomes than persons with no disabilities.
Education appears to be strongly associated with the presence of disabilities. Compared to older adults with no disabilities, those with disabilities were much more likely to have left school before completing high school and much less likely to have graduated from college.
Table 6. Characteristics of adults 65 and older with and without disabilities
| Adults 65 years old or older/th> | ||
|---|---|---|
| With one or more disabilities | With no disabilities | |
| Percent who are male | 39.3% | 43.3% |
| Percent American Indian | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| Percent Black/African American | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Percent Asian | 1.0% | 0.7% |
| Percent White | 97.2% | 98.0% |
| Percent Hispanic/Latino | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Percent now married | 47.7% | 64.9% |
| Percent widowed, divorced or separated | 46.5% | 30.7% |
| Percent never married | 5.8% | 4.4% |
| Percent living in rental unit | 27.9% | 19.5% |
| Percent living in privately owned home | 58.7% | 85.0% |
| Percent living in institution or group quarters | 18.0% | 1.1% |
| Percent who are currently working | 6.7% | 18.3% |
| Percent who worked full-time year-round in the previous year | 2.0% | 5.4% |
| >Percent in households under poverty level | 11.9% | 6.2% |
| Percent in households under 200% of poverty level | 39.0% | 23.7% |
| Average household income | $29,043 | $46,203 |
| Median household income | $19,600 | $33,300 |
| Percent with no vehicle in household | 22.2% | 7.3% |
| Percent who did not graduate from high school | 41.8% | 24.6% |
| Percent high school graduates only | 31.5% | 37.7% |
| Percent with some college | 16.7% | 20.5% |
| Percent college graduates | 10.0% | 17.1% |
For more information about this report, contact:
Peter Rode
Center for Health Statistics
Minnesota Department of Health
651-201-5942
peter.rode@state.mn.us
