Disabled employees earn less, study says

WASHINGTON -- More than half of the nation's disabled people hold jobs, but they often have lower incomes and less education and are less likely to have health insurance than people without disabilities, the government said today.

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans, about 51 million people, had physical or mental disabilities in 2002, according to the Census Bureau. About 33 million of them had severe disabilities. The bureau surveyed 26,800 households, said Sharon Stern, chief of its poverty and health statistics branch.

About 56 percent of disabled adults, ages 21 to 64, had jobs in 2002. Among those with severe disabilities, 43 percent had jobs. The median income was $12,800 for people with severe disabilities, $22,000 for those with milder disabilities, and $25,000 for those with no disabilities. Nineteen percent of adults ages 25 to 64 with severe disabilities had no health insurance; 16 percent with no disabilities lacked insurance.