More than one-quarter of people with disabilities are employed

[SINGAPORE] More than 25 per cent of people with disabilities, aged 15 to 64, are employed, said Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad in Parliament on Monday.

Add on those who are actively looking for a job and the pool expands to about one-third, according to new data from the Manpower Ministry.

The remaining two-thirds in this age group were outside the labour force, with most of them citing poor health or disability as the main reason, added Mr Zaqy in his reply to Chong Kee Hiong (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC).

In proportional terms, the resident employment rate for people with disabilities is 28.6 per cent while another 4.2 per cent are active jobseekers.

The ministry began to collect data on employment of persons with disabilities recently through the annual Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, with data available from 2018, said Mr Zaqy.

He also gave a breakdown of employment rates in the group: 27.6 per cent for those aged 15 to 39; 37.8 per cent for those between 40 and 49; 26.1 per cent for those between 50 and 64; and 5.9 per cent for those who are 65 and older.

The sectors employing most of these people are community, social and personal services, food services, administrative and support services and manufacturing.

Together, these sectors employ more than half of the workers with disabilities.

THE STRAITS TIMES