Workers with Disabilities Still Struggling

If you didn't catch the PBS Newshour's report on the Americans with Disabilities Act Thursday night, you may want to watch the video or read the transcript.


Now, unemployment as it affects people with disabilities.
That was the subject of much attention today on the 22nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act. During the recession, disabled workers were hit five times as hard as other workers when it came to losing their jobs. People with disabilities have also had more trouble finding new jobs during the recovery.

Now there's a new push from some leaders in politics and business to fight those trends, including by the new chairman of the National Governors Association, Delaware's Jack Markell, who says he plans to make this his signature issue.
Well, we talk now to two individuals closely involved with all these efforts. Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, he is the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. And Jill Houghton, she's the executive director of the non-profit U.S. Business Leadership Network.

Politics Aside, Officials Find a Common Ground: Jobs for People with Disabilities

How to bring down the nation’s high unemployment rate and create jobs for millions of people seeking work dominated last weekend’s confab of governors in Williamsburg, Va., setting the stage for an admittedly “niche initiative” targeted at employing people with disabilities. “There are a lot of people who want to be working in our country, and aren’t given a shot,” says Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who was selected by his peers to head the National Governors Association (NGA) for the next year.

With so many able-bodied people out of work, why would Markell choose to focus on the special-needs community? It’s not politically correct to even ask such a question, but Markell has a ready answer, and he is not the least fazed by the unseemliness of the inquiry. He says hiring people with disabilities is good for the bottom line of companies that are doing it, which means it’s good for the shareholders. “It’s not just for charity,” he told The Daily Beast. His NGA initiative is dubbed “A Better Bottom Line: Employing People With Disabilities.”