Contrasting the Employment of Single Mothers and People with Disabilities

The transition of single women with children off the welfare rolls and into employment (see Figures 1 and 2) in the 1990s has been described as "stunning" by leading policy researchers (see, for instance, Blank 2002). The authors in The Decline in Employment of People with Disabilities: A Policy Puzzle (Stapleton and Burkhauser 2003) document and analyze an equally stunning transition of working-age people with disabilities out of the workforce and onto disability income support programs (see Figures 1 and 2), despite the upsurge in government rhetoric proclaiming increased employment and economic independence as a primary policy goal. Employment and program participation trends for both populations departed sharply from trends in the prior decade