The Unassuming Economist

Ahead of December 3rd, 2021 that marked the international day of disabilities, the World Bank Group released its regional report titled, ‘Disability-Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Path to Sustainable Development’, calling for the inclusion of nearly 85 million disabled persons, making up 14.7% of the entire population of the world today.

The report quantifies the magnitude of the problem by taking a life-cycle approach. It sheds light on the disappointing fact that nearly 15% of specially-abled children are not able to access education in the world, and even among those who do- dropouts are increasingly the norm. Besides, there is the added burden of social stigma preventing parents from sending children to school, and the segregation that happens in classrooms. Later in life, it has been observed that nearly 1 in every 2 heads of households who live with a disability do not participate in the labor market, thus depressing incomes and future prospects of later generations. The report also deliberates upon the compounding factor with which such deprivations get exacerbated, such as racial and religious differences especially for Africans, Latinos, and people from the Caribbean.

Delving deeper into the prevalence of discrimination in public spaces, jobs, educational opportunities, and other social events, the report goes on to discuss measures to combat such problems such as the use of data to design better-targeted policies, increased participation of the disabled in policymaking procedures, the government’s role in improving access to facilities and public goods, etc.

Click here to read the full blog and access the executive summary of the report.