Type of disability and education as predictors of the occupational status of people with disabilities

ABSTRACT: One of the major challenges facing disabled individuals in Cyprus is access to employmentopportunities despite more than 10,000 disabled individuals being qualified and experienced. According toglobal estimations, unemployment or underemployment of disabled individuals is higher than the generalpopulation. The current study examined the relationship between unemployment and the underemploymentamong disabled individuals with their demographic characteristics in countries with the same legal and culturalenvironments. This study adopts the correlational and regression method of study. Primary data was collectedfrom 117 online questionnaire responses from 6000 individuals who are registered as people living withdisabilities from various organizations in Cyprus. The study used the purposive sampling method to determinedemographic factors and disability type concurrently. The method applied was also used to determine theunemployment or underemployment status of the disabled and the possible relationships. Hence, the methodwas suitable in the identification of whether the demographic variables and the nature of disability have asignificant relationship to unemployment and underemployment among the disabled. The results of the studyshowed that individuals with a specific type of disability have higher chances of employment compared to othertypes of disability. The study revealed that individuals with neurological disabilities, paraplegia, dystrophy, andquadriplegia experience lower employment rates. Also, those with visual disabilities and individuals who lacklimb or have limited limb performance have high chances of unemployment and employment, which were foundto be at the same rate. The study shows a positive correlation between the type of disability and the occupationalstatus. However, the results of the current study differ with existing literature as it shows a lower rate comparedto what is reported in the literature.

Keywords: Employment, Disability, Discrimination, Occupational Status, Unemployment.