Strong Correlation Between Disability and Poverty

In what will prove to be a surprise to precisely no one with physically challenges, there is a new study out detailing the correlation between disability and poverty. It's an excellent first post for this blog. People with physical challenges are kept in poverty by a system designed to curtail (or halt) the productivity of otherwise intelligent, hard-working individuals. You can read more here in this article from the Baltimore Sun.

According to its new study "Half in Ten," the Center for Economic and Policy Research (a DC think tank) found that "almost 50 percent of working-age adults who experience poverty for at least a 12-month period have one or more disabilities." 

Sadly, as staggering as that number is to read, it seems a bit on the low side. The financial toll of being physically challenged is staggering for the individual with the disability AND their respective caregivers. Consider this article from the Toronto Star addressing the very real (and rarely discussed) "double whammy" for households where those providing care see their incomes plummet or disappear due to the excessive demands placed on them at home. 

As we all speak in hypothetical terms regarding the "what ifs" of an overhauled healthcare system, we must realize we will ALL be disabled or caring for someone with a disability at one point or another. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of "when."