17 Apr 2018
Report

A Hidden Market: The Purchasing Power of Working-Age Adults With Disabilities

Michelle Yin, Dahlia Shaewitz, Cynthia Overton, and Deeza-Mae Smith

Image of young waiter with an intellectual disabilityPeople with disabilities provide a twofold opportunity for business and industry. First, businesses benefit from hiring people with disabilities by increasing the diversity of their labor force, inspiring innovation, and improving productivity; they benefit from an increase in favorable public perception. Second, people with disabilities also represent a vast consumer market for high-quality services and products.

This report examines the significant and growing economic power of the disability market through the lens of disposable and discretionary income, and provides information to help motivate businesses to enter this market. (Disposable income is money available after taxes to spend on essential living expenses; discretionary income is money available for nonessential items after taxes and basic living expenses have been met.) The report also discusses implications for businesses, next steps to aid in accessing this market, and specific examples of companies in the United States that have experienced strategic benefits from employing, marketing to, and developing specific products for people with disabilities. 

Key Findings
  • The total after-tax disposable income for working-age people with disabilities is about $490 billion, which is similar to that of other significant market segments, such as African Americans ($501 billion) and Hispanics ($582 billion).
  • Discretionary income for working-age people with disabilities is about $21 billion, which is greater than that of the African-American and Hispanic market segments combined.
  • Disposable and discretionary income varies by disability type and by state—information that can help business leaders as they make plans to access the disability market.

People with disabilities are not a solitary market; they are surrounded by family members and friends who also recognize the value in products and services that accommodate all people in society.

The Spending Power of Working-age Adults with Disabilities An infographic in three sections depicts the spending power of working-age adults with disabilities, who represent a large market for businesses in the United States. The top section has two panels that answers the question: Who are people with disabilities in the United States? The first panel, on the left, depicts five icon images of three women and two men. One of the icons is highlighted. This represents the fact that one in five adults in the United States, or 64 million people, have a disability. The second panel, on the right, depicts an icon image of a person carrying a briefcase. This represents the fact that of the 64 million people with a disability, 22 million, or 35 percent, of them are of prime working age, meaning that they are from ages 16 through 64. The middle section of the infographic defines the two types of income: disposable and discretionary. A panel on the left defines disposable income as money available after taxes to spend on essential living expenses. Such expenses include housing, food, clothing, and medical costs, represented by images of a house, spoon and fork, clothes hanging on a line outdoors, and a doctor’s briefcase. A panel on the right defines discretionary income as money available after taxes and basic living expenses have been met to spend on luxury or nonessential items. It depicts an image of a wallet filled with dollar bills. The bottom section compares the spending power of people with disabilities to those without disabilities in other significant market groups. It shows that while working-age people with disabilities have significantly lower disposable and discretionary incomes than people without disabilities, they still have significant spending power compared to other similarly sized market segments, such as African Americans and Hispanics. The section has two panels. The panel on the left shows a vertical bar chart that compares total disposable income for African Americans, Hispanics, and people with disabilities. It shows that African Americans have 501 billion dollars in disposable income, Hispanics have 582 billion dollars, and people with disabilities have 490 billion dollars. The panel on the right shows a vertical bar chart that compares total discretionary income for African Americans, Hispanics, and people with disabilities. It shows that African Americans have 3 billion dollars in discretionary income and Hispanics have 16 billion dollars, while people with disabilities have 21 billion in discretionary income. The Source of the infographic: A Hidden Market: The Purchasing Power of People with Disabilities, 2018. The American Institutes for Research, www. a i r. org

View PDF version >>

Related Work

17 Apr 2018
News Release

Meeting the Needs of Adults with Disabilities in the Marketplace

The needs of adults with disabilities are frequently overlooked in the marketplace and when businesses are designing and promoting products and services. But a new report from the AIR finds that inclusive hiring practices and involving people with disabilities in product development and advertisement can help businesses access a market worth billions of dollars.
6 Oct 2015
Report

One Size Does Not Fit All: A New Look at the Labor Force Participation of People with Disabilities

Millions of working-age adults with disabilities are willing to work but do not have jobs and do not count as unemployed. Labor participation choices and employment experiences of people with disabilities vary substantially by disability type, suggesting a need to account for this diversity in efforts to improve the labor market outcomes for this population.
Topic: 
Workforce, Disability and Rehabilitation

Further Reading