Inclusive Labor Markets



Excerpts from Hernández-Licona (2001) Disability and the Labor Market (PDF 216KB):

A disability modifies not only the labor decisions of the individual with a disability; it affects his or her entire household dynamics. This is especially true in LAC countries, where the family, often more so than the government, plays the safety-net role. A person with a physical disability poses two major challenges for his or her family. First, depending on the nature of the disability, physical care of this individual can consume much of the caregivers time, lowering his or her probability of participating in the labor market. Second, the familys potential income may be reduced because the member with the disability may not be able to work and because s/he may consume more than other family members; in this case, the labor participation rise [to cover additional costs].

Disability and poverty are inextricably linked: Poorer people tend to work in riskier environments and are more often exposed to environmental hazards, particularly in countries with poorly enforced environmental standards; Exclusion and segregation decrease the chances that a person with a disability will contribute productively to his or her household and community, thereby increasing the risk of sinking into poverty; Costs stemming from disabilities can impoverish persons with disabilities and their families.


IDB Resources

Reports

Disability and the Labor Market - Data Gaps and Needs in Latin America and the Caribbean (PDF 216KB)
By Gonzalo Hernández-Licona, Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM). SDS, Working Paper, 2001.

Access for Persons with Disability to the Labor Market (Spanish, PDF 1.5MB) or Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Grupo Latinoamericano para la Participación, la Integración y la Inclusión de las Personas con Discapacidad (GLARP), 2001.


Seminar

Inclusive Labor Markets in Brazil
A presentation by FUNLAR RIO, an NGO working to enhance employment opportunities for persons with disability in Brazil.
SDS Brown Bag Lunch, May 2006.


Projects

Creating Job Opportunities for the Disabled
Peru, 2006.
The project will implement a program to promote the labor market and the entrepreneurial development of persons with disability by matching the employment offers of socially responsible companies with the employment needs of trained and qualified workers with disability.

Pilot Project for Supporting Disabled Women's Labor Insertion
Nicaragua, 2006.
The project facilitates the labor market insertion of 200 women with disability. In a series of pilot activities the women receives technical skills training to build their competitiveness in working with small businesses. The project includes four components: A study to assess the demand for technical skills in the labor market; design of a capacity building training program; technical skills training of 200 women with disability; and placement of the women in the labor market.

For further information on disability and development projects in the IDB, please see the Project Portfolio.


International Mandates

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons): C159
ILO Convention, 1983. Ratified by 16 countries in LAC region (2006)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons): R168
ILO Recommendation, 1983.

The Right to Decent Work of Persons with Disability
Principle International Legal Instruments and Policy Initiatives
IFP/SKILLS Working Paper No. 14, ILO.


International Organizations

OECD
Sickness and Disability Policies

International Labour Organization
ILO Disability Programme

World Bank
Disability - Employment and Training


Further Resources

Further Resources in Spanish

Cornell Employment and Disability Institute

Employers' Forum on Disability

GLADNET

Handicap International
Good Practices for the Economic Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Developing Countries (PDF 5MB)