A Social Portrait of People with Disabilities

People with disabilities are one of the lifecycle groups prioritised in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 and are central to the high level goals and the national poverty target set out in the plan.

There are particular challenges in promoting the social inclusion of people with disabilities. To inform the policy response, this ‘social portrait’ provides information about the social conditions of people with disabilities in an accessible manner. It is based on a model of disability that takes account of the interaction of the individual and their physical and social environment.

The research was commissioned by the Social Inclusion Division in the Department of Social Protection and undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute. It is the fifth lifecycle report, to go with previous portraits of children, people working age, older people and communities.