To What Extent does Disability Discourage from Going on the Job Market? Evidence from Italy

Purpose: To investigate the extent to which disability discourages an individual from going on the job market, using data from an Italian survey. Design/Methodology/Approach: We use an extended definition of labour force participation based on being employed or currently seeking work even if the persons declare themselves as housewives, students, retired or in any other condition other- wise. We use probit, sequential and multinomial logit models for analysing labour force participation and outcomes. We distinguish between the impact of disability in its strict sense and chronic illness explaining the difference. Findings: In all variants we find that chronic illness is a stronger deterrent for labour force participation than disability. Women are more discouraged compared to men. Intellectual disability is the strongest barrier and hearing the least influential. In a sequential decision-making process, we find that disability affects both labour force participation decision and the ability to be employed but not so much the choice between part-time and full-time. Originality/value: We have a unique data set from a survey which was specifically targeted at people who were identified as disabled in a previous survey. The Italian context is also special due to its high legal employment quotas and non-compliance sanctions. Practical implications: Policies providing tailored solutions for improved access to education and health care for disabled persons will enhance their work opportunities. Research limitations: Data set is cross-sectional and characterised by attrition. It would be interesting to compare results with a longitudinal and more representative data set.