The Association Between Presenting Visual Impairment, Health, and Employment Status

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of visual impairment and correctable visual impairment (i.e., uncorrected refractive errors) on being out of the labor force and on unemployment. The effect of health on labor force status was also investigated. Method: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2008 ( N = 15,650) was used for this study. Participants were classified into three vision status groups: normal, correctable visual impairment, and visual impairment. Statistical analyses utilized were chi-square and logistic regression. Results: Having a visual impairment was significantly associated with being out of the labor force, while having a correctable visual impairment was not. Conversely, having a correctable visual impairment was associated with unemployment, while having a visual impairment was not. Being out of the labor force was not significantly associated with health for those with a visual impairment, although it was for those with correctable visual impairments and normal vision. Discussion: Given previous research, it was surprising to find that health was not associated with being out of the labor force for those with visual impairments. Perhaps other disadvantages for the people with visual impairments identified in this study contributed to their higher out-of-the-labor-force rates regardless of health. Implications for practitioners: Researchers utilizing national data sets that rely on self-reports to identify visual impairments should realize that some of those who self-identify as being visually impaired may actually have correctable visual impairments. Current research is needed to understand why a majority of people with visual impairments are not seeking employment and have removed themselves from the labor force.

Out of the labor force due to health reasons? An analysis of the Survey of Income and Program Participation regarding persons with visual impairments

“…Persons OLF are not employed and have not looked for work for the last 4 weeks; many are discouraged or disinterested in employment [7]. Groups with lower labor force participation include persons who are younger adults (age, [18][19][20][21][22][23][24], non-Hispanic Blacks, less educated, and with disabilities; women are less likely to be in the labor force than men [8]. The 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates indicated that the OFL rate was 22.0% for the civilian noninstitutionalized population (age, , and the OLF rate was 18.1% for those without a disability [9].…”

“…Having poor health or a secondary disability was also an employment barrier in the UK [1]. More recent research found that although people with VI were more likely to report poor health, health was not a significant factor differentiating being employed from being OLF [18].…”

Beyond Employment Rates: Full-time Versus Part-time Employment for People With Visual Impairments

“…The nationally representative datasets that are available to explore employment for this population have rarely been utilized. The few studies that have used these datasets focused on likelihood of being employed, or being in the labor force, by characteristics of people with visual impairments (Houtenville, 2003;Kirchner, Schmeidler, & Todorov, 1999;McDonnall & McKnight, 2021;Sherrod, Vitale, Frick, & Ramulu, 2014), but these studies have not investigated employment beyond a dichotomous variable. One study utilized multiple national datasets to evaluate employment over time for this population (McDonnall & Sui, 2019), but also focused on employment and unemployment rates at specific points in time.…”

Beyond Employment Rates: Earnings of People With Visual Impairments

“…The pay gap between people with and without disabilities widened to 66 cents per dollar when including both full-time and part-time workers. Previous investigations of employment for Americans with visual impairments using national data have predominantly focused on employment rates and labor force participation rather than earnings (Houtenville, 2003; Kirchner et al, 1999; McDonnall & McKnight, 2021; McDonnall & Sui, 2019; Sherrod et al, 2014).…”