LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF WAGE DIFFERENCES AMONG CLOSURE 26 STATUS COMPETITIVELY EMPLOYED WOMEN AND MEN WITH DISABILITIES WHO RECEIVED VR SERVICES FROM RSA DURING 2003, 2004, 2005, AND 2006

1
1
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LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF WAGE DIFFERENCES AMONG
CLOSURE 26 STATUS COMPETITIVELY EMPLOYED WOMEN
AND MEN WITH DISABILITIES WHO RECEIVED VR
SERVICES FROM RSA DURING 2003, 2004, 2005, AND
2006

• NCRE Annual Conference
• San Antonio, TX
• 21 February, 2009

3

• Larry Featherston, A.B.D., C.R.C., C.V.E.
• DBTAC Northeast ADA Center
• Brent Williams, Ph.D., C.R.C.
• University of Arkansas

4
Women Can't Wait Join the Fight for Fair Pay!

• Headline taken May 20, 2008 from the National
  Womens Law Center website
• http//www.nwlc.org/fairpay/

5
Gender Wage Gap Persists

• Women working full-time, year-round earn only
  about 78 cents for every dollar earned by men,
  virtually the same amount women earned in 2005.
  In 2006, the median annual earnings of women ages
  15 and older working full-time, year-round were
  32,515, compared to 42,261 for their male
  counterparts.
• Minority women fare significantly worse. In 2006,
  the median earnings of African American women
  working full-time, year-round were 30,3528
  compared to 48,4209 for white, non-Hispanic men
  the median for Hispanic women was only 25,198.10
  This means that an African American woman earned
  just 69 cents for every dollar earned by a man,
  while a Hispanic woman earned only 59 cents on
  the dollar compared to her male counterpart.11 In
  both cases, this pay gap for women of color was
  only marginally smaller than it was in 2004.

National Womens Law Center (2008). Congress must
act to close the wage gap for women Facts on
womens wages and pending legislation.
6
Gender Wage Gap Persists continued

• An earnings gap exists between women and men
  across a wide spectrum of occupations. In 2006,
  for example, the median weekly wages earned by
  women physicians were just 72 of the median
  weekly wages of male physicians.
• In some occupations, women have actually lost
  ground. For example, in a U.S. Government
  Accountability Office study of management
  positions in 10 industries the pay gap had
  increased between 1995 and 2000.

National Womens Law Center (2008). Congress must
act to close the wage gap for women Facts on
womens wages and pending legislation.
7
Gender Wage Gap Persists continued

• The earnings gap between women and men also
  persists across all educational levels.
• There is not a single state in which women have
  gained economic equality with men.
• As women get older, the wage gap for them widens.
• Pay inequity also follows women into retirement.

National Womens Law Center (2008). Congress must
act to close the wage gap for women Facts on
womens wages and pending legislation.
8
Primary Goal of RSA

• Help individuals with disabilities achieve their
  maximum employment potential by providing
  services which reduce barriers to work through
  skill acquisition, accommodations and support.
• 2003 204,383 achieved employment (84.1
  competitively employed)
• 2004 199,224 achieved employment (83.8
  competitively employed)
• 2005 175,968 achieved employment (85.1
  competitively employed)
• 2006 175,964 achieved employment (85.5
  competitively employed)

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Competitive Employment

• Employment in the competitive labor market that
  is performed on a full-time or part-time basis in
  an integrated setting and for which an individual
  is compensated at or above the minimum wage, but
  not less than the customary wage and level of
  benefits paid by the employer for the same or
  similar work performed by individuals who are not
  disabled.
• (p. 31)

• Rehabilitation Services Administration (2003).
  Reporting manual for the case service report
  (RSA-911) (RSA-PD-03-07).

10
Amount of Money Spent by RSA on Direct Services
to Individuals with Disabilities

• 2003
• 1,717,203,583
• 2004
• 1,730,602,173
• 2005
• 1,751,507,455
• 2006
• Not available

Note This does not include money spent on
counseling and guidance services. Rehabilitation
Services Administration. (2008). Fiscal year data
tables. Retrieved June 22, 2008 from
http//www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/rehab/statistics.h
tml
11
Policies backing RSA

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
• Provide access for individuals with disabilities
  to any program or activity receiving federal
  funds
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title 1
• Prohibits employment discrimination against
  qualified individuals with disabilities
  including job application procedures, hiring,
  advancement and termination

12
Employment Trends
The Employment Rate of Men and Women, Age 18-64
Without a Work Limitation and With a Work
Limitation in the United States from 1994-2004
Adapted from and 2004 disability status report
United States by A. J. Houtenville, 2005, and
Disability statistics in the United States by
A. J. Houtenville, 2006.
13
Barriers to Work

• Ignorance, prejudice, a reluctance to change by
  employers
• Effects of disability need for continued
  medical treatment
• Negative perceptions about returning to work
• Lack of confidence and motivation
• Job availability
• Lack of Transportation

(Bruyere et al., 2006 Feist-Price Khanna,
2003 Roessler, Williams, Featherston
Featherston, 2006 )
14
Double handicap - additional barriers for women

• Deegan and Brooks (1985), Feist-Price and Khanna
  (2003), and Schur (2003)
• Gender bias / Sexism
• Oppressive actions by society

15
Wage Discrimination

• Women with disabilities must be afforded the
  same rights and opportunities as all other
  persons, irrespective of disability status and
  sex, with regard to employment. (p.12)

Feist-Price, S., Khanna, N. (2003). Employment
inequality for women with disabilities. Off Our
Backs, 33(1/2), 10-12.
16
Most recent evidence of wage discrimination

• Dey Hill, 2007
• Women employed full-time, one year out of college
  are earning 80 of the earnings for men
• Women employed full-time, ten years out of
  college are earning 69 of the earnings for men
• The gender pay gap has become a fixture of the
  U.S. workplace and is so ubiquitous that many
  simply view it as normal. (p. 2)

17
Recent studies providing evidence of the
persistent wage gap

• U.S. General Accounting Office (2003)
• After controlling for demographic factors such as
  marital status, race, number and age of children,
  and income, as well as work patterns such as
  years of work, hours worked, and job tenure
  women still earned, on average, only 80 of what
  men earned in 2000.
• That is, there remains a 20 pay gap between
  women and men that cannot be explained or
  justified.

U.S. General Accounting Office. (2003). Womens
Earnings Work Patterns Partially Explain
Difference between Mens and Womens Earnings 2,
GAO-04-35. Retrieved December, 2008 from
http//www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-35.
18
Recent studies providing evidence of the
persistent wage gap - continued

• Kimberly Bayard, Judith Hellerstein, et al.(2003)
• Examined occupational segregation and the pay gap
  between women and men found that, after
  controlling for occupational segregation by
  industry, occupation, place of work, and the jobs
  held within that place of work (as well as for
  education, age, and other demographic
  characteristics), about one-half of the wage gap
  is due solely to the individuals sex.

Kimberly Bayard, Judith Hellerstein, et al.
(2003). New Evidence on Sex Segregation and Sex
Differences in Wages from Matched
Employee-Employer Data. Journal of Labor
Economics, 21, 887-904.
19
Most recent evidence of wage discrimination -
continued

• Baldwin Johnson, 1995
• Women with disabilities were earning 60 of the
  male wage, with two-thirds of that difference
  being attributed to discrimination
• Stoddard et al., 1998
• Women with disabilities were earning 68 of the
  earnings of women without disabilities
• Women with non-severe disabilities were earning
  64.6 of the income of men with non-severe
  disabilities
• Women with severe disabilities were earning 79.2
  of the income of men with severe disabilities

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Significance of the Study

• If working women earned the same as men (those
  who work the same number of hours have the same
  education, age, and union status and live in the
  same region of the country), their annual family
  incomes would rise by 4,000 and poverty rates
  would be cut in half. (p. 2)

• National Womens Law Center. (2006). The Paycheck
  Check Fairness Act Helping to close the wage gap
  for women.

21
Purpose of Study

• The purpose of this study was to longitudinally
  investigate the magnitude of wage differences
  among closure 26 status competitively employed
  women and men with disabilities who received
  vocational rehabilitation services from RSA in
  2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

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Hypothesis

• Closure 26 status competitively employed women
  with disabilities who received vocational
  rehabilitation services from RSA earn less than
  closure 26 status competitively employed men with
  disabilities who received vocational
  rehabilitation services through RSA.

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Participants

• Individuals with disabilities who received
  services through RSA and received a competitive
  employment closure status in 2003, 2004, 2005 and
  2006
• Individuals who reported working 30-50 a week
• Individual had no missing data

24
Matching procedure
To create two equal comparison groups for each fiscal year, men and women were be matched on To create two equal comparison groups for each fiscal year, men and women were be matched on
Race VR counseling received
Age Additional training
Region Medicare recipient
Education at closure Medicaid recipient
Cost of services received SSI recipient
Primary disability SSDI recipient
Secondary disability TANF recipient
Disability severity Workers Comp recipient
Note The 2005 and 2006 RSA databases did not
report age.
25
Demographic Characteristics for Men and Women
with Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004,
2005, and 2006
  2003 2004 2005 2006
  N (Percent) N (Percent) N (Percent) N (Percent)
Prior to Matching
Gender
Men 75,081 (56.6) 73,144 (56.9) 72,246 (56.8) 71,097 (56.7)
Women 57,451 (43.4) 55,413 (43.1) 54,868 (43.2) 54,393 (43.3)
Total 132,532 128,557 127,114 125,480

After Matching
Ethnicity
Caucasian 9,978 (76.6) 9,919 (75.2) 23,477 (72.9) 23,283 (73.3)
African American 2,302 (17.7) 2,492 (18.9) 6,085 (18.9) 5,958 (18.8)
American Indian or Alaska Native 10 (0.1) 12 (0.1) 88 (0.3) 92 (0.3)
Asian 2 (lt0.1) 11 (0.1) 111 (0.3) 105 (0.4)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 1 (lt0.1) 3 (lt0.1) 27 (lt0.1) 24 (lt0.1)
Hispanic or Latino 740 (5.7) 755 (5.7) 2,402 (7.5) 2,309 (7.3)
Total 13,033 13,192 32,190 31,771
Note Men and women were not matched on age for
2005 and 2006 fiscal years.
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Demographic Characteristics for Men and Women
with Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004,
2005, and 2006 continued
2003 N 2004 N 2005 N 2006 N
Level of Education
No formal schooling 2 2 24 15
Elementary education (grades 1-8) 101 124 485 426
Secondary education, no high school diploma (grades 9-12) 1,285 1,344 3,324 3,304
Special education certificate of completion/diploma or in attendance 745 776 1,319 1,259
High school graduate or equivalency certificate 6,763 6,644 12,699 12,249
Post-secondary education, no degree 1,783 1,809 5,405 5,351
Associate degree or Vocational/Technical Certificate 1,175 1,237 4,767 4,865
Bachelors degree 1,007 1,061 3,413 3,454
Masters degree or higher 172 195 754 848

Training
No training received 1,071 9,385 20,412 20,229
College 2,329 1,140 3,287 3,175
Vocational 738 1,723 5,456 5,060
Other 8,895 944 3,035 3,307
Note Men and women were not matched on age for
2005 and 2006 fiscal years.
27
Demographic Characteristics for Men and Women
with Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004,
2005, and 2006 continued
2003 N 2004 N 2005 N 2006 N
Significant Disability
No 1,426 1,394 3,471 3,218
Yes 11,607 11,798 28,719 28,553

Cost of Services
0-5,000 11,943 11,974 27,079 26,570
5,001-10,000 727 804 3,436 3,421
10,001-15,000 250 271 940 924
15,001-20,000 62 89 353 361
20,001-25,000 14 14 101 150
25,001 37 40 281 345

VR Counseling
No 3,920 3,758 9,880 9,035
Yes 9,113 9,434 22,310 22,736
Note Men and women were not matched on age for
2005 and 2006 fiscal years.
28
Demographic Characteristics for Men and Women
with Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004,
2005, and 2006 continued
2003 N 2004 N 2005 N 2006 N
Medicaid
No 12,596 13055 31230 30690
Yes 437 137 960 1081
Medicare
No 12,996 13157 31858 31351
Yes 37 35 332 420
SSI
No 13,000 13142 31847 31402
Yes 33 50 343 369
SSDI
No 13,018 13169 31710 31249
Yes 15 23 480 522
TANF
No 13,029 13192 32176 31764
Yes 4 0 14 7
Workers Comp
No 13,029 13184 32150 31726
Yes 4 8 40 45
Note Men and women were not matched on age for
2005 and 2006 fiscal years.
29
Demographic Characteristics for Men and Women
with Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004,
2005, and 2006 continued
30
Demographic Characteristics for Men and Women
with Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004,
2005, and 2006 continued
31
Data analysis

• Trend analyses of median earnings
• Effect size analyses (Cohens d) to determine the
  magnitude of the wage differences
• Due to the large sample sizes, statistical
  significance testing was inappropriate

(Cohen 1962, 1988, 1990, 1994 Huberty, 2002
Kirk, 1996, 2001 Thompson, 1996, 2002)
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Median Weekly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Any Disabilities for Fiscal Years 2003,
2004, 2005, and 2006
33
Median Weekly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Single or Multiple Disabilities for Fiscal
Years 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006
34
Median Weekly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Any Disabilities by Ethnicity for Fiscal
Years 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006
35
Median Weekly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Any Disabilities, and Men and Women in the
United States for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004, 2005,
and 2006

Note Comparison earnings data was adapted from
the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics 2003 2006 Current Population Survey.
Median usual weekly earnings of full-time and
salary workers age 16 and older. data.
http//www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htmdemographics
36
Median Weekly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Any Disabilities, and Men and Women in the
United States for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004, 2005,
and 2006

Note Comparison earnings data was adapted from
the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics 2003 2006 Current Population Survey.
Median usual weekly earnings of full-time and
salary workers age 16 and older. data.
http//www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htmdemographics
37
Median Weekly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Disabilities by Educational Attainment at
Closure for Fiscal Years 2003 to 2006
    2003 2003 2003 2004 2004 2004 2005 2005 2005 2006 2006 2006
Educational Educational N Men Women N Men Women N Men Women N Men Women
Level Level N Median Median N Median Median N Median Median N Median Median
    N (75th ile) (75th ile) N (75th ile) (75th ile) N (75th ile) (75th ile) N (75th ile) (75th ile)
No High School Diploma No High School Diploma 1,388 307 251 1,470 320 260 3,833 320 276 3,745 322 280
1,388 (400) (301) 1,470 (400) (320) 3,833 (400) (336) 3,745 (420) (344)
   
High School Diploma or equivalent High School Diploma or equivalent 7,508 325 280 7,420 339 290 14,018 347 300 13,508 350 303
7,508 (437) (358) 7,420 (441) (363) 14,018 (450) (380) 13,508 (473) (400)
   
Some College, no degree Some College, no degree 2,985 400 340 3,046 400 350 10,172 400 360 10,216 418 368
2,985 (518) (440) 3,046 (545) (460) 10,172 (558) (480) 10,216 (580) (480)
   
College degree or higher College degree or higher 1,179 538 500 1,256 560 528 4,167 560 537 4,302 600 548
College degree or higher College degree or higher 1,179 (769) (700) 1,256 (780) (709) 4,167 (800) (711) 4,302 (840) (750)
         
Note All values are in U.S. dollars. Men and
women were not matched on age for 2005 and 2006
fiscal years.
38
Median Yearly Earnings for Matched Men and Women
with Any Disabilities, and Men and Women in the
United States for Fiscal Years 2003, 2004, 2005,
and 2006

Note Comparison earnings data was adapted from
the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics 2003 2006 Current Population Survey.
Median usual weekly earnings of full-time and
salary workers age 16 and older. data.
http//www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htmdemographics
39
Before calculating effect sizes

• Cohens d assumes the data is normally
  distributed.
• Must check distribution skewness and kurtosis.
• As speculated, our data was positively skewed.
• Used a log transformation to decrease the
  skewness and make data more normally
  distributed.

40
Original wage distributions - Men
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Disability Groups
41
Mens wage distribution - log transformations
Disability Groups
42
Original wage distributions - Women
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Disability Groups
43
Womens wage distribution - log transformations
Disability Groups
44
Effect Size Calculations on Mean Weekly Earnings
for Matched Men and Women with Disabilities for
Fiscal Years 2003-2006
  Men Men Men Men Men Women Women Women Women Women    
Year Min Max 75th Median Mean Min Max 75th Median Mean d d after Log
(Number Matched) Wage Wage Percentile Median (S.D.) Wage Wage Percentile Median (S.D.) d Transformation
With any disability With any disability                      
2003 155 5,769 480 355 412.87 155 3,220 400 300 346.7 -0.32 -0.39
(13,033)         (228.99)         (173.48)    
2004 155 5,935 500 360 425.19 155 3,076 402 307.5 359.02 -0.31 -0.37
(13,192)         (236.60)         (184.89)    
2005 155 6,250 520 380 447.42 155 3,000 441 325 383.03 -0.28 -0.32
(32,190)         (256.02)         (197.39)    
2006 155 9,999 550 400 465.95 155 4,000 460 340 396.41 -0.28 -0.30
(31,771)         (277.74)         (209.21)    
With a single disability With a single disability                      
2003 155 5,769 486 360 418.41 155 3,220 400 300 348.87 -0.33 -0.42
(10,893)         (237.58)         (178.07)    
2004 155 3,000 500 360 429.63 155 3,001 500 312 363.49 -0.30 -0.32
(10,951)         (236.59)         (189.52)    
2005 155 5,200 540 398 459.5 155 3,000 455 330 390.81 -0.28 -0.30
(22,651)         (269.26)         (207.80)    
2006 155 9999 577 400 480.64 155 4000 480 346 406.32 -0.28 -0.35
(22,147)         (293.85)         (221.63)    
Note All values are in U.S. dollars. Men and
women were not matched on age for 2005 and 2006
fiscal years.
45
Effect Size Calculations on Mean Weekly Earnings
for Matched Men and Women with Disabilities for
Fiscal Years 2003-2006 continued
  Men Men Men Men Men Women Women Women Women Women    
Year Min Max 75th Median Mean Min Max 75th Median Mean d d after Log
(Number Matched) Wage Wage Percentile Median (S.D.) Wage Wage Percentile Median (S.D.) d Transformation
With multiple disabilities With multiple disabilities                      
2003 155 1,614 449 340 384.68 155 1,559 387 300 335.68 -0.30 -0.29
(2,140)         (176.36)       (147.45)    
2004 155 5,935 455 347 403.5 155 3,076 384 300 337.21 -0.33 -0.35
(2,241)         (337.21)         (158.58)    
2005 155 6,250 480 360 418.72 155 2,600 420 320 364.54 -0.27 -0.28
(9,539)         (364.54)         (168.71)    
2006 155 4,038 500 374 432.13 155 3,000 425 326 373.6 -0.28 -0.28
(9,624)         (233.06)         (175.23)    
Note All values are in U.S. dollars. Men and
women were not matched on age for 2005 and 2006
fiscal years.
46
Discussion

• Possible explanations for the results
• Data
• Service Provisions by RSA
• Current Policy

47
Data

• No identifiable means to triangulate the accuracy
  or quality of the data
• Many of the variables in the databases are
  categorical and are restricted to a single
  response
• Only quantitative data on the variables used to
  track client outcomes were collected
• Post-employment data are self-reported weekly
  wages and hours worked
• No formally assessed outcome measures
• No measure of service quality

48
Service Provision

• Individuals with disabilities served through RSA
  are being placed in basic, entry level positions
  which only pay minimum wages
• Placements are in jobs and NOT careers

49
Service Provision continued

• RSA is NOT achieving the primary goal of helping
  individuals with disabilities achieve their
  vocational potential
• After 35 years in the workforce, men with
  disabilities will earn 627,000 (48) less than
  men without disabilities and women with
  disabilities will earn 472,000 (45) less than
  women without disabilities.
• After 35 years in the workforce, women with
  disabilities will earn 102,000 (15) less than
  men with disabilities.
• After 35 years in the workforce, women with
  single disabilities will earn 105,000 (15) less
  than men with single disabilities.
• After 35 years in the workforce, women with
  multiple disabilities will earn 80,000 (12)
  less than men with multiple disabilities.

50
Policy addressing all individuals with
disabilities

• Individuals with disabilities are still being
  treated unequally and are finding it difficult to
  compete with workers without disabilities
• need for increased enforcement of the
  discrimination policies set forth by the ADA
• tougher penalties for businesses who do not abide
  by those policies

51
Policy addressing the needs of women with
disabilities

• Current policy is perpetuating the inequality of
  services provided to women with disabilities by
  assuming women have the same needs as men
• RSA was established to serve men with
  disabilities and the current infrastructure does
  not fit the needs of women with disabilities
• To achieve equality, ALL VR participants must be
  treated differently

52
Abraham Lincoln statement on the humble citizens
right to get ahead

• I dont believe in a law to prevent a man from
  getting rich it would do more harm than good.
  But while we do not propose any war upon
  capital, we do wish to allow the humblest man or
  woman an equal chance to get rich with everybody
  else.

53
Questions?