August 8, 2014
A new report released today from National Disability Institute (NDI) shows 24 years after the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law and guaranteed all individuals with disabilities the opportunity to achieve “economic self-sufficiency,”people with disabilities are less financially stable than people without disabilities.
National Disability Institute’s report, Financial Capability of Adults with Disabilities – Findings from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation 2012 National Financial Capability Study, analyzed data from 1,363 of the more than 25,000 respondents to the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) self-identifying as “permanently sick, disabled or unable to work.” While the report analyzes one segment of people with disabilities, the results provide an important lens on the financial capability of many Americans with disabilities. According to U.S. Census data, nearly one in three people with disabilities in the United States live in poverty, a figure nearly double the national poverty rate.
Report highlights include:
- 78 percent of people with disabilities found it difficult to make ends meet, as compared with 56 percent of people without disabilities;
- 70 percent of people with disabilities responded they could not come up with $2,000 in an emergency, as compared with 37 percent of people without disabilities;
- 44 percent of people with disabilities had unpaid medical bills, as compared to 25 percent of people without disabilities;
- 81 percent of people with disabilities did not have an emergency fund to cover three months of expenses, as compared to 54 percent of people without disabilities;
- Only 18 percent of people with disabilities had determined their retirement savings needs, as compared with 41 percent of people without disabilities;
- 84 percent of people with disabilities had not planned for their children’s college education, as compared to 62 percent of respondents without disabilities;
- Only 30 percent of respondents with disabilities paid their credit card in full each month, as compared with 50 percent of respondents without disabilities;
- 41 percent of people with disabilities used methods of non-bank borrowing, such as a pawn shop or payday loan, as compared with 29 percent of people without disabilities; and
- 50 percent reported they were “not at all satisfied” with their current financial condition, as compared with 30 percent of people without disabilities.