Deaf Unemployment
- The unemployment rate among the deaf is staggering.Fewer than 40 percent of those with a hearing disability work full time, according to the Yang-Tan Institute at Cornell University's analysis of 2016 American Community Survey Despite improvements in technology and accommodations that are making it easier for deaf people to work and communicate, deaf job hunters say employers still don't believe they can do the work.
- Deaf/HH Job Seeker Network Facebook group, which has 4,700 members. Group members and other deaf individuals NPR spoke with have struggles that echoed Koller's — they have good educations and many qualifications, yet couldn't get entry-level jobs.
- Willman says deaf people still face the stigma that they are stupid or incapable — often referred to as "deaf and dumb."
- Proving discrimination as a deaf person can be extremely difficult, according to Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf. Companies might interview a deaf candidate and provide interview accommodations, but won't actually consider Technology improvements have made it easier for deaf people to bring attention to their employment struggles and file discrimination lawsuits, though litigating such cases can take years.
- Maria Morocco, a supervisory trial attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, says that increasingly available accommodations give companies fewer excuses not to hire someone because of a disability.
- In 2015, the EEOC filed about 20 lawsuits on behalf of deaf plaintiffs. The total number of discrimination cases the EEOC received that year relating to hearing impairments was 827.
- In order for anti-discrimination laws such as the ADA to be effective, Rosenblum proposes two additional measures.
- The first is a quota for private employers, similar to the ones that currently exist for the federal government and federal contract employees.
- Private companies with federal contracts must hire people with disabilities for 7 percent of their workforce.
- Federal agencies have a higher quota of 12 percent, 2 percent of which must have a targeted disability such as deafness, blindness or significant mobility impairments.
- Rosenblum would also like to see businesses set up a centralized reasonable accommodation fund (CRAF) to help pay for any accommodations a new employee might need.
- "It removes the economic disincentive for hiring workers with disabilities," he explained. "Different departments may not have the budget for disability accommodations or may try to hire the cheapest people."
Links
Categories
Tags