The disability income gap: How does the level of education affect the income situation of people with disabilities?
The disability income gap: How does the level of education affect the income situation of people with disabilities?

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the disability income gap, considering educational attainment for 2010 and 2019 based on microdata from the Luxembourg Income Study for Austria, Germany, and Poland. Using the Dagum density function to model net monthly individual income, selected characteristics of income distribution were determined, together with the Gini coefficient and the proposed measures of the disability income gap. To assess the distance between the income distribution of individuals with and without disabilities in the years under consideration, the Bhattacharyya distance was calculated. The added value of the article is the proposal of a new approach to the study of financial disadvantage by using the disability income gap, which allows for a broader analysis of the financial situation of people with disabilities. The conducted research confirmed that individuals with disabilities consistently face worse financial conditions. Moreover, the indicated disability income gap increases at higher education levels. This counterintuitive finding suggests a labour market disadvantage, as highly educated individuals with disabilities tend to experience relatively larger income disparities. Based on the Bhattacharyya distance, it was found that over time, differences in income distribution between people without and with disabilities decreased in Austria and Germany but increased in Poland. Nonetheless, considering the income distributions of individuals who possess higher educational attainment, it should be noted that the distance between the density function between individuals with and without disabilities has increased in all countries. Income inequality patterns varied: Austria and Germany saw lower inequality measured by the Gini coefficient among people with disabilities, while Poland observed higher inequality.

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