Disability Thinking Weekday: 12/10/24
Employment stats, health care anger, and holiday gifts
Three more disability-related links for Tuesday, December 10, 2024.
1. nTIDE December 2024 Jobs Report: Employment for People with Disabilities Plateaus Near Record High
University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability - December 6, 2024
“While the plateau reflects progress – particularly the narrowing of the employment gap between people with and without disabilities during periods of tight labor markets – experts suggest that the absence of new innovations or less widespread adoption of flexible practices may be hindering further growth. The return-to-office requirements, coupled with a lack of emerging workplace technologies akin to the “Zoom revolution,” are counterbalancing trends that could explain the inertia. Employers may now find it challenging to expand opportunities for people with disabilities without additional innovations or systemic changes.”
It’s been awhile since I shared a regular update on U.S. disability employment statistics from the University of New Hampshire. The fact that recent disability employment gains are stalling a bit actually adds credence to the theory that more flexible work practices adopted during the pandemic helped generate a significant rise in disabled people’s employment. Unfortunately, since many of those flexible practices are being actively curbed now, we may soon see those encouraging figures fall back. Those involved in improving job opportunities for people with disabilities have an opportunity now to try to preserve, expand, and add to some of the innovations we saw during the pandemic. Flexibility helped move the needle on disability employment. It may no longer be a public health strategy. But work flexibility can still be disability employment strategy.
2. The deep roots of Americans’ hatred of their health care system
Dylan Scott, Vox.com - December 6, 2024
“There is not one man nor even one industry responsible for the failures of US health care. The finger-pointing is a distraction. Every party bears responsibility. The only way forward is to reckon with that collective failure. We need to begin working toward a more rational and just system if we are to have any hope of creating a world in which Thompson’s shooting would be truly unimaginable.”
This overview of how American health care is so deeply flawed and internally conflicted is a good addition to recent debate and storytelling following the murder of UnitedHealthcare C.E.O. Brian Thompson. It’s a helpful counterpoint of sorts to the spontaneous outbursts of anger and dark satisfaction from people who have suffered for so long from health insurance practices. And it reminds us what hopefully most of us already know — that the problems of health care in the U.S. aren’t anyone one person’s, one company’s, or one profession’s singular fault. The piece also points out that almost as much of the problem is accidental and careless as it is a result of deliberate scheming and greed. After a bout of anger, articles like this are a good way to take a step back and translate rage into action. At the same time, at certain moments, “reasonable” explanations like this can be annoying and off-putting. We need rational debate and good-faith, focused collaborations to fix health care in the U.S. But we also need to keep open a very wide space for people to tell their stories and express their pain and anger, without having to justify them to anyone.
3. The 2024 Disability Holiday Gift Guide is officially here!
Emily Ladau, Words I Wheel By - December 6, 2024
“My goal, as always, is to find ways to uplift disabled people and harness some joy among the chaos.”
Here is another disability holiday gift guide — this one from Emily Ladau, who publishes one every year in her Words I Wheel By newsletter.
Disability Thinking Weekday is moving!
As explained in the December 2 newsletter, we are moving from Substack to Ghost on January 1, 2025. I had asked for people to help me with the approximately $400 in moving expenses, by renewing their paid subscriptions early. Unfortunately, Substack doesn’t seem to allow this. So there are two options if you want to provide some extra support:
1. Click the link to make a one-time donation through Ko-Fi, or,
2. Wait until the move in January, and start a new annual membership then.
Either way, annual paid memberships will still be set at a discounted price of $40 through December and January.