How Many Disabled Americans Are There?

June 17, 2009

Imagine taking the entire population of Florida and combining it with the entire

population of California. That is quite a lot of people. In fact, it is over 54

million people and 19 percent of the United States population, or in other

words, one out of every five Americans. According to the United States Census

Bureau, it is the same amount of people who reported at least some level of

disability in the year 2005. The numbers from the census were definitely up from

the last census taken in 2002.

While not all people reporting disabilities were found to be severely disabled,

nearly 35 million were indeed classified as severely disabled. In addition,

nearly 11 million of those with disabilities that were age 6 years and older

needed help with everyday activities, such as taking a shower or bath and

getting around inside the home.

The census also found that many disabled people are still holding jobs. In the

age group of people 21 to 64, nearly 46 percent were still employed. Thirty-one

percent of people with severe disabilities were employed, and 75 percent of

those with disabilities labeled as non-severe were employed.

While many people automatically think of physical limitations such as being in a

wheelchair when they think of disabilities, more than 16 million of those with

disabilities were classified as having difficulty with mental functioning,

emotional functioning and cognitive functioning. This group of disabled people

included those who are severely anxious or depressed, and those who have issues

concentrating, dealing with stress, and functioning in social situations.

The census found that the likelihood of having a disability increased with age.

Over 18 million adults over the age of 64 were disabled in 2005. Out of that 18

million, almost 13 million were labeled as having a severe disability. For those

80 years old and older the likelihood increased; Seventy-one percent of people

over 80 were disabled, and 56 percent of those were severely disabled.

Although it is more likely that older Americans will be disabled, there were

still many children with disabilities involved in the census. Parents reported a

whopping 475,000 children with disabilities from age 3 to 5 years old, and

228,000 children age 3 or under were reported as having a disability.

The author of this article is , who, in addition to being a former

food stamp caseworker, medicaid caseworker and AFDC caseworker, is a former

disability claims examiner for the social security administration. He answers

questions about the federal disability system on his Social Security Disability

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