Employment

The Profile of Older Americans is an annual summary of the statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics related to older adults in the United States. The Profile illustrates the shifting demographics of Americans age 65 and older and includes information on population growth, marital status, living arrangements, income, employment, and health. This year's report includes a special section on family caregivers.

The Annual Disability Statistics Compendium provides summaries of statistics about people with disabilities and government programs that serve them. The Compendium presents key overall statistics on topics including the prevalence of disability, employment among persons with disabilities, rates of participation in disability income and social insurance programs, and more. The 2021 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium includes a new section on Voting and Registration, which explores voting and registration of people with and without disabilities in the 2020 presidential elections.

The Office of Disability Employment Policy released the report, “Employment of Persons with a Disability: Analysis of Trends during the COVID-19 Pandemic– Findings in Brief.” This report examines workforce changes during COVID-19. It draws on data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey to provide insight into key labor force statistics, employment across industries and occupations, and the effect of the easing of social distancing and the ability to telework on occupational employment change.

ACL is announcing two new grants to University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDDs) including Community-Based Transitions Planning and Implementation Grants and a National Training Initiative to Support People with IDD Experiencing Co-Occurring Mental/Behavioral Health Issues.

This year, National Employ Older Workers Week (NEOWW) takes place from September 19-25, 2021. NEOWW is held annually to recognize the vital role of older adults in the workforce. NEOWW aims to increase awareness of older workers and develop innovative strategies to support employment. The theme for this year's National Employ Older Workers Week is: "The Future is NEOWW!"

This new fact sheet highlights funding and flexibilities that help increase access to competitive integrated employment (CIE) for youth and adults with disabilities. These opportunities are provided through the work of multiple federal agencies providing services to individuals with disabilities, including ACL and CMS.

On Monday, July 12, 2021 three ACL grantees released a digital book titled, 30 Years of Community Living for Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities. The book shares personal perspectives on community living and inclusion shared by people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) who served as advisors to the project. The book was written by the directors of three longitudinal studies funded by ACL’s Projects of National Significance program.

This new report is an update to a SEED report published in 2016 and includes legislation and executive actions enacted since the 2016 report. These updates are organized into five policy themes for inclusive employment: laying the groundwork, preparing for work, getting to and accessing work, staying at work; and self-employment and entrepreneurship. The updated report also highlights success stories from recent disability-inclusive policy efforts and actions in the states.

This new report from AARP explores the impact of age discrimination. The report measures the missed growth that the U.S. economy could have captured with better hiring practices and workplace retention initiatives. Findings show that the U.S. missed out on a potential $850 billion in GDP in 2018 and could lose out on $3.9 trillion in 2050 without intervention. The report also discusses how we can overcome age discrimination and capture the benefits of age inclusion in the future.

The Compendium includes many tables of data, including state and national values and trends over time. The Compendium is broken into eleven sections and includes topics such as employment, health, and education. The Annual Report highlights state and trend data, and complements the detailed tables available in the Compendium & Supplement.