Work environment characteristics and labour market participation of persons with congenital or early onset disabilities

This project investigates the impact of the work environment on the labour market participation of individuals with congenital or early-onset disabilities, and how specific factors related to disability and the work environment interact.

Despite expectations of increased opportunities for individuals with disabilities in the labour market thanks to automation and digitalization, labour market participation has declined since 1990.

Understanding how to enhance labour market participation for individuals with disabilities is crucial for promoting autonomy, independence, and fulfilling commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Sustainable Development goal 8.5.The purpose of this project is to determine how work environment characteristics influence labour market participation among persons with congenital/early onset disabilities and to investigate how disability- and work environment specific factors interact to influence labour market participation.Utilising the benefits of a mixed-method approach, we shall harness COVID-19-induced shifts in use of remote working and technological and organisational solutions to understand which factors boost labour market participation of persons with disabilities.

Register-based studies employing econometrical models will assess changes in labour market participation following shifts in the work environment.

Individual and focus-group interviews with individuals with disabilities and employers will identify facilitators and barriers to participation based on firsthand experiences using inductive directed content analysis and thematic content analysis.

Building on these findings, a survey will explore how disability-specific factors interact with the work environment.Ultimately, this project will elucidate how greater labour market participation rates among persons with disabilities can be achieved through adjustments to the work environment.

The results are expected to directly influence the work process of several of the included stakeholders such as the Swedish Unemployment Agency and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, but also how employers and emplyees agrees to organise the work situation. The expected ultimate outcome is increased labour market participation among persons with disabilities.