Youth with Disabilities: Education and Employment, 2022
Released: 2025-01-27
While disability prevalence among youth is lower than their older counterparts, youth aged 15 to 24 experienced the largest disability rate increase of all age groups from 2017 to 2022, going from 13.1% to 20.1% (+7 percentage points). In comparison, the disability rate among those aged 65 years and older increased from 37.8% to 40.4% (+2.6 percentage points) over the same period.
For many youth in the 15-to-24 age group, this period of life is marked by several key transitions, such as moving into the workforce, leaving high school, or entering post-secondary education. A new fact sheet, "Education and employment experiences of youth with disabilities, 2022," released today, examines the combinations of educational and employment statuses among those aged 15 to 24 years, with further disaggregation by different characteristics, such as, disability severity, disability cooccurrence, region, gender and immigrant status. Examining patterns of school attendance and work, including identifying those who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), can be used to identify populations that may be at a higher risk of falling behind their peers in the same age group.
Additionally, as part of an ongoing series of products in support of the Accessible Canada Act, Statistics Canada is releasing a report today entitled "Barriers to accessibility related to behaviours, misconceptions or assumptions: Findings from the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability."
Mental health-related and learning disabilities are the most common disability types among youth
In 2022, just over two-thirds of youth with disabilities (67.9%) had a "milder" disability while nearly one-third (32.1%) had a "more severe" disability. Among youth, the three most prevalent disability types were mental health-related (13.6%), learning (9.2%), and pain-related (6.7%). The prevalence of mental health-related disabilities among youth rose from 7.8% in 2017 to 13.6% in 2022, marking the largest increase (+6 percentage points) in prevalence among all disability types for that age group. This increase was notably higher among young women (+9 percentage points) over the same period.
Youth with disabilities are less likely than youth without disabilities to be employed while attending school
Youth often face a variety of challenges in the realm of employment and education. Pathways through education and into the labour market can vary and result in different outcomes for youth as they enter their working age years. Additional challenges may arise for youth with disabilities as they transition into education or the labour force, given the potential need for education and workplace accommodations, as well as other disability supports. Overall, in 2022, youth with disabilities were less likely to be working (41.8%) or to be in school (65.1%), compared with their counterparts without disabilities (50.5% and 69.7% respectively).
Gaining work experience while in school can help youth to build skills and networks to ease the transition to being in the workforce. Additionally, youth working while in post-secondary school may reduce the financial burden of their education. When looking at youth who attend both school and work, further differences between those with and without disabilities emerge. Youth with disabilities (22.8%) were less likely than their peers without disabilities (29.4%) to be employed and attending school.
Youth with disabilities were more likely to NEET (16.0%) than those without disabilities (9.2%). Research has shown that youth NEET are more vulnerable to social exclusion and lower psychosocial wellbeing. Additionally, among youth with disabilities who were neither in school nor employed, more than 8 in 10 (81.1%) were identified as having work potential—that is, persons with disabilities who might be likely to enter employment in an inclusive labour market without discrimination and full accessibility and accommodation.
Among youth aged 20 to 24, those with disabilities are almost twice as likely to be not in employment, education or training than those without disabilities
Examining youth by further breaking down the population by age revealed additional differences between those with and without disabilities. In 2022, youth aged 15 to 19 years with disabilities (29.1%) were less likely to be employed than their peers without disabilities (35.8%), but similar proportions of these groups were in school (86.3% vs. 87.3%). Among youth aged 15 to 19, those with disabilities (63.0%) were more likely to be in school and not working than their peers without disabilities (58.2%).
As for youth aged 20 to 24, those with disabilities were less likely to be employed, as well as less likely to be in school than their same-age peers without disabilities. Looking at combinations of work and school, youth with disabilities aged 20 to 24 years were less likely to be employed and not attending school than their same age peers without disabilities (30.7% vs. 34.4%) (Chart 1). Within the same age group, 23.3% of those with disabilities were NEET, compared with 12.2% for youth without disabilities.
Chart 1
Employment and education status, youth with and without disabilities, by age group, 2022
Youth with milder disabilities are more likely to be working and in school than youth with more severe disabilities
School attendance and employment varied by disability severity in 2022. While the proportion who attended school and did not work was similar regardless of disability severity, differences according to severity were more evident among those who were both employed and in school. Around one in four youth with milder disabilities (25.7%) were both employed and in school, compared with around one in six youth with more severe disabilities (16.8%).
A smaller proportion of youth with more severe disabilities was employed while not being enrolled in school, compared with youth with milder disabilities (15.2% vs. 20.7%). Among those aged 20 to 24, this difference was more pronounced (22.2% vs. 34.9%).
The proportion of youth not in employment, education or training is higher among those with more severe disabilities than those with milder disabilities
Youth aged 15 to 24 years with more severe disabilities were more than twice as likely to be NEET than those with milder disabilities in the same age group (25.8% vs. 11.3%). Young men with disabilities were more likely to be NEET than young women (21.6% vs. 12.1%) (Chart 2). When examined by severity, young men with a milder disability were still more likely to be NEET than young women with a milder disability (15.9% vs. 8.1%), while young men with a more severe disability were more likely to be NEET than young women with a more severe disability (34.1% vs. 20.3%).
Chart 2
Youth not in employment, education or training, by gender and disability severity, 2022
Young women with disabilities more likely to be employed while in school than young men with disabilities
Including sociodemographic characteristics can highlight diverse experiences within the population of persons with disabilities. In 2022, women aged 15 to 24 years with disabilities were more likely to be employed while they were enrolled in school than men of the same age with disabilities (26.5% vs. 17.5%). Young women were also more likely than young men to be working full-time while being enrolled in school (15.4% vs. 9.0%). In contrast, young men (35.4%) were more likely than young women (25.7%) to be employed full-time while not attending school.
Racialized youth with disabilities more likely to attend school while not working than non-racialized youth with disabilities
In 2022, among youth with a disability, racialized youth were more likely to be attending school and not working than their non-racialized and non-Indigenous peers (56.6% vs. 37.9%). Additionally, non-racialized and non-Indigenous youth with disabilities were more likely to be working while in school than racialized youth with disabilities (24.9% vs. 17.3%).
Immigrant youth with disabilities less likely to be not in employment, education or training than their non-immigrant counterparts
The rate of immigrant youth with disabilities who were attending school and not working was higher compared with non-immigrant youth with a disability (56.1% vs. 40.7%). Furthermore, this group was less likely to be NEET than their non-immigrant peers (10.5% vs. 16.7%).
No differences observed according to 2SLGBTQ+ status
Persons with disabilities belonging to the 2SLGBTQ+ community are younger on average than their non-2SLGBTQ+ counterparts. However, when looking at 2SLGBTQ+ and non-2SLGBTQ+ youth with disabilities aged 15 to 24 years of age, no differences were found for any of the combinations of education and employment included in this analysis.
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Note to readers
The Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) is the official source of data on persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over in Canada. The survey population for the 2022 CSD was comprised of Canadians aged 15 years and older as of the date of the 2021 Census of Population (May 2021) who were living in private dwellings. It excludes those living on First Nations reserves, as well as those living in collective dwellings, such as institutional residences and Canadian Armed Forces bases. As the institutionalized population is excluded, the data should be interpreted accordingly.
The Canadian Survey on Disability identifies persons with disabilities using the Disability Screening Questions (DSQ), which are based on the social model of disability. The DSQ first measures the degree to which difficulties are experienced across 10 domains of functioning, then ask how often daily activities are limited by these difficulties. Only persons who report a limitation in their day-to-day activities are identified as having a disability. For more detailed information on the DSQ, please see the Canadian Survey on Disability, 2022: Concepts and Methods Guide.
This analysis uses four key combinations of education and employment statuses: attended school, unemployed or not in the labour force; attended school, employed; did not attend school, employed; not in employment, education or training (NEET). Where applicable, further disaggregation by full-time and part-time employment is also included.
It is important to note that information regarding employment and school attendance comes from data linked to the 2022 CSD and the 2021 Census and, therefore, reflects the census labour force status and school attendance reference periods. According to findings from the Labour Force Survey, employment among youth declined during this time period, which saw new public health restrictions in various provinces related to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, some students transitioned from in-person to remote learning.
A global severity score was developed for the CSD, which was calculated for each person using: a) the number of disability types that a person has, b) the level of difficulty experienced in performing certain tasks, and c) the frequency of activity limitations. To simplify the concept of severity, four severity classes were established: mild, moderate, severe, and very severe. "Mild" and "moderate" classes were collapsed into "milder", while "severe" and "very severe" classes were collapsed into "more severe". Note that the name assigned to each class is intended to facilitate use of a severity score and is not a label or judgement concerning the person's level of disability. For more information, see the Canadian Survey on Disability, 2022: Concepts and Methods Guide.
In 2022, the CSD reflected the changes made to the 2021 Census by asking respondents both their gender (male, female or please specify) and sex at birth. The 2022 CSD also asked respondents about their sexual orientation for the first time (heterosexual, lesbian or gay, bisexual or please specify). Together, the gender, sex at birth and sexual orientation questions allow for the analysis of data on 2SLGBTQ+ persons with disabilities aged 15 years and older in Canada.
The Government of Canada adopted the acronym 2SLGBTQI+ to refer to Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people and those who use other terms related to gender and sexual diversity. Statistics Canada uses the acronym 2SLGBTQ+ for data analysis purposes, as information is not yet collected specifically about intersex people in surveys.
Racialized groups are based on the population group question in the census and the derived visible minority variable. The visible minority variable consists of 14 groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, visible minority – n.i.e. (not included elsewhere) (write-in responses), multiple visible minorities, other (not a visible minority) and Indigenous people.
Products
The report "Barriers to accessibility related to behaviours, misconceptions or assumptions: Findings from the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability," which is part of the Reports on Disability and Accessibility in Canada (89-654-X), is now available.
The fact sheet "Education and employment experiences of youth with disabilities, 2022," which is part of the Reports on Disability and Accessibility in Canada (89-654-X), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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