Research
JUST RELEASED: The Benefits of Increasing the Labor Force Participation Rate for People with Disabilities
For more than 40 years, there has been a workforce participation gap of approximately 40 percentage points between persons with disabilities and the general population without disabilities. The Able Trust is working to close this gap through a new initiative, Inclusive Florida: Powered by The Able Trust.
As we work to improve our understanding of disability employment in Florida, we are releasing a new report, The Benefits of Increasing the Labor Force Participation Rate for People with Disabilities. This report calculates the economic impact of increasing Florida’s labor force participation rate for people with disabilities.
An important finding shows that increasing the number of persons with a disability in the workforce by one percentage point per year for the next ten years would have a $111.78 billion impact on Florida’s economy over the course of the 10-year period, from 2023-2032. That would also increase state tax revenues by an estimated $1.08 billion.
The report was a project completed on behalf of The Able Trust by Master of Science students in Applied Economics at Florida State University (FSU). Their economic analysis and research findings were conducted under the guidance of FSU Adjunct Faculty member Jerry D. Parrish, Ph.D.
To view the press release announcing the report, click here.
This workforce gap between persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities has persisted for more than 40 years. We believe closing this gap and expanding disability employment in Florida will be a tremendous benefit not only to Floridians with disabilities who want to work but to local economies across Florida. We are very excited that this report confirms the economic and fiscal benefits of adding job seekers with disabilities to Florida’s workforce. We appreciate the work of the students and the quality program provided by Florida State University.
