“People with Disabilities in Portugal – Human Rights Indicators 2022”
Women with disabilities face greater difficulty in escaping unemployment
The report “People with Disabilities in Portugal – Human Rights Indicators 2022” (6th edition), authored by the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights (ODDH/ISCSP-ULisboa), publicly presented on December 13, 2022, at the ODDH Colloquium – “Breaking the invisibility: Talking about human rights of girls and women with disabilities,” highlights that despite some progress made in the human rights of people with disabilities in our country, disparities persist in certain areas—such as access to employment and exposure to the risk of poverty or social exclusion—affecting women with disabilities more than men with disabilities in some contexts.
Work and Employment
In the area of work and employment, the report “People with Disabilities in Portugal – Human Rights Indicators 2022” shows improvements in the registered unemployment of people with disabilities: in September 2022, there were about 13 000 registered unemployed people with disabilities (mainland Portugal), representing a decrease of 4,6% compared to December 2021. However, in the general population, in the same period, the reduction in the number of people registered as unemployed was much faster, standing at 17%. These numbers illustrate the additional difficulties people with disabilities face in accessing employment, which happens more slowly despite the current context of near full employment in our country.
When analyzing the same indicator by sex, there has been a steady increase since 2011 in the number of women with disabilities registered at employment centers. The only exceptions were three years: 2014 (-1,2%), 2018 (-1,5%), and now September 2022 (-4,2% compared to December 2021). On the other hand, when analyzing the registrations of men with disabilities at employment centers, the opposite trend is observed: registrations have been steadily decreasing since 2017, with the only exception being 2020, the year of the pandemic (+10,1%). These data highlight that the overall positive change in the registered unemployment indicator for people with disabilities—which has been declining since 2017, except for 2020 and 2021—is mainly explained by the decrease in men with disabilities registered at IEFP (Institute of Employment and Vocational Training). This also explains the seven percentage point increase in women with disabilities registered from 2016 (42%) to 2022 (49%). These data reveal greater difficulties faced by women in accessing employment.
“Disability employment gap”
Another indicator—the disparity in employment rates between people with and without disabilities (“disability employment gap”)—corroborates this same trend: in 2021, the gap between people with and without disabilities who were employed was 16,2 percentage points. Although, overall, this value is the lowest in the last five years, it is important to note that in 2021 this indicator decreased by 4,8 percentage points for men and only half a percentage point for women. This means that there was an actual increase in the number of men with disabilities entering the labor market, but for women, the increase was so slight (0.5 percentage points) that it suggests a situation of near stagnation in employment access for women with disabilities.
Private Sector and Public Sector
In turn, data on the professional integration of people with disabilities in the private sector show that, in 2020, people with disabilities employed in companies with more than 10 workers represented 0,59% (n = 13 902) of the total workforce in these companies, with 55% women (N = 7 603) and 45% men (N = 6 299). In 2020, the year of the pandemic, a total of 200 people with disabilities were hired in these companies (mainland Portugal), representing a 1,5% change compared to 2019. In this context, two results are important to highlight: on the one hand, the year-on-year rate of change for this indicator has experienced a gradual decline—9,1% in 2018, 7,7% in 2019, and 1,5% in 2020 (the year the pandemic began). On the other hand, the prevalence of workers with disabilities in the private sector remains very low: over the last five years, it has increased only from 0,51% to 0,59%. These data contrast with the goal of expanding the Quota System for people with disabilities and/or incapacity in the private sector, introduced by Law No. 4/2019 of January 10th, whose transition period for companies with more than 100 workers ends next February 2023.
The proportion of women with disabilities in the private sector has shown a progressive increase, presenting, since 2015, a higher value than that of male workers. However, when analyzing the ages of these workers, it is observed that in 2020, almost 64% were between 45 and 64 years old, which may indicate not the admission of new workers, but the retention in employment of workers who in the meantime acquire disabilities.
In the public sector, there are more workers with disabilities than in the private sector, totaling nearly 20 400 in 2021 (+6% compared to 2020), with 68% women (N = 13 882) and 32% men (N = 6 507). Also in the public sector, over the last five years, the prevalence of workers with disabilities has remained almost unchanged: it increased from 2,4% in 2017 to 2,8% in 2021. These data show more women than men with disabilities working in public administrations, a sector where female employment also predominates.
In the area of social protection and living conditions, data from the Survey on Living Conditions and Income show that, in 2021, there was a worsening of the poverty or social exclusion rate by two percentage points compared to 2020: 30,5% of people with disabilities (aged 16-64) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to 18,8% of people without disabilities in the same age group. Although the analysis of this indicator—which includes people at risk of poverty or living in households with very low per capita work intensity or in severe material and social deprivation—shows improvements since 2016, both in the population with and without disabilities—with the exceptions of 2019 and 2021—the gap between the two groups in 2020 and 2021 was still very pronounced, standing at 11,7 percentage points.
When analyzing this indicator by degree of disability, it is concluded that, in 2021, the highest risk of poverty or social exclusion continues to be experienced by people with severe disabilities (34%, +15,3 percentage points compared to households of people without disabilities and +7,5 percentage points compared to households of people with moderate disabilities).
Education
In the field of education, it is important to highlight that in the 2020/2021 school year, support measures for learning and inclusion were mobilized for 78 268 students, representing 6,7% of the total number of students attending public education (mainland Portugal). This represents an increase of 3% in the number of children and young people for whom support measures—introduced by Decree-Law No. 54/2018—were mobilized compared to the number of students previously categorized as having special educational needs (in 2017/2018; N = 76 028). However, similar to what has been observed in previous years, there remains an underrepresentation of females among the beneficiaries of support measures: 37% (n = 29 041) girls compared to 63% (n = 49 227) boys.
Discrimination and Access to Justice
Finally, in the area of discrimination, it is important to note that in 2021, 1 195 complaints of discrimination based on disability or increased health risk were submitted, an increase of 16,8% compared to 2020. The health sector recorded the highest number of complaints. In cases where it was possible to identify the complainant by sex, the profile of the complainant was predominantly male (54% of complaints handled by the INR and 36% of complaints submitted to other entities).