Disability and Equity at Work

Despite international and national guarantees of equal rights, there remains a great deal to be done to achieve global employment equality for individuals with disabilities. In OECD countries, the employment rate of persons with disabilities was just over 40%, compared to 75% for persons without a disability; in many low- and middle-income countries, the employment rates are even lower.

There are numerous reasons why persons with disabilities fare poorly in the labor market; Disability and Equity at Work is the first book to document what can be done to improve this imbalance. Chapters in this volume address all relevant facets of this topic and include:

· Extensive examination of the factors contributing to inequitable access to work among persons with disability
· Analysis of the economic benefits of increasing employment equity
· Successful employment strategies at every stage of a worker's career
· Evidence-based recommendations and in-depth case studies of innovative policies and programs around the world

Chapter contributors include leaders from international organizations, government, civil society, and academia, including experts from UN agencies, leaders in nongovernmental advocacy and research organizations, and senior academics in the field. Disability and Equity at Work fills a needed gap that will appeal to those interested in and engaged in public policy, global health, equal rights, business, labor, and other fields.

Jody Heymann is Dean and Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Heymann was the Founding Director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University. Heymann's leadership in addressing working conditions and equity include founding and leading the Project on Global Working Families at Harvard University, establishing and leading the WORLD Policy Analysis Center which examines labor policy and disability policy as well as other social policies in all 193 UN countries, and directing training initiatives which brought students to over 25 countries to study effective approaches to improving working conditions and equity in a wide range of social spheres. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and held a Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Social Policy.

Michael Ashley Stein holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. Co-founder and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, as well as Cabell Professor at William & Mary Law School, he has taught at Harvard, New York University, and Stanford law schools. An internationally recognized expert on disability law and policy, Stein participated in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, works with disabled persons organizations around the world, actively consults with governments on their disability laws and policies, and advises a number of UN bodies. Stein has received numerous awards for his work, and was recently appointed by President Obama to the United States Holocaust Council.

Gonzalo Moreno helped managed the Disability and Equity Initiative in 2011-2012 at the Institute for Health and Social Policy, which examined what policies and programs can lead to labor market improvements for persons with disabilities, with a specific focus on equitable, integrated and sustainable employment. Moreno now coordinates a large-scale international research and training project that seeks to understand how social policy affects infant, child and maternal health outcomes primarily in low- and middle-income countries.