Disability Statistics: Census 2000 Long-Form and the American Community Survey Presenter: Andrew J. Houtenville, Ph.D. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Economic Research on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities Program on Employment and Disability Cornell University Slide 1

Introduction of Myself I am an Economist/Statistician. Specialize in using large national surveys to measure the prevalence of disability, employment rates and incomes of people with disabilities. Also study the self-perception of disability and the interaction of employment and participation in Social Security Administration (SSA) Programs. Other interests include poverty issues, the “returns to educations” and personal and family adjustments to the onset of a disability. Slide 2

Disability Statistics Dissemination and Research at Cornell Cornell RRTC on Employment Policy, is funded NIDRR, to use national data sources surveys to evaluate the impact of employment policy for people with disabilities. Funded by NIDRR to analyze and utilize large the Census 2000 results with respect to demographics and outcomes. Recently awarded the Disability Statistic RRTC to do more of the same with other data sources, and study at survey methods. Funded by the National Center for Education Statistics to study the composition, testing accommodations and proficiency scores of the student population with disabilities. Slide 3

Census 2000 Long-Form: Introduction Most household received the Census 2000 short-form, but one-in-six households receives the long-form. The long-form solicits information needed to allocate resources the the local level with regard to government resources such as housing and transportation. It is used widely in the areas of community development, urban planning and service delivery forecasting. The long-form also contains six questions related to disability. Slide 4

Census 2000 Long-Form: Statistics Provides statistics at the local level (e.g., county, city, town, reservation) Provides statistics on personal and household levels. Provides a variety of different social participation statistics, such as, employment, poverty, income, mass-transit usage, educational attainment. Disability statistics are available from the Census Bureau broken down by gender age, race/ethnicity, and type of disability (6 broad categories), although many more can be generated. Some social participation statistics are provided for the population with disabilities – e.g., employment and poverty. Slide 5

Census 2000 Long-Form: Accessing Statistics There is a Census Bureau publication on disability, Basic local profiles are available through the Census Bureau web site … check out also read over the MSWord document I provided called “Census 2000 Data.doc” for instructions and an interpretation of statistics. More detailed statistics are available through the Census Bureau web site, This site is complex. The “raw data” for 6 percent of the sample is available through the Public- Use Microdata (PUMS) files. With these files you can calculate other cross-tabulations not disseminated by the Census Bureau. In the future, go to we will be using the PUMS files to calculate other statistics. Slide 6

Census 2000 Long-Form: Disability Questions 16. Does this person have any of the following long-lasting conditions: a.Blindness, deafness, or a severe vision or hearing impairment? (Yes, No) b.A condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying? (Yes, No) 17. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting 6 months or more, does this person have any difficulty in doing any of the following activities: a.Learning, remembering, or concentrating? (Yes, No) b.Dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home? (Yes, No) c.(Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor’s office? (Yes, No) d.(Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD OR OVER.) Working at a job or business? (Yes, No) Slide 7

Census 2000 Long-Form: Criticisms and Concerns The breakdowns of disability are very broad and put people with very different disabilities into the same category. There has been concern from the very beginning that these questions are too long and thus respondents may misinterpret the questions. According to some Census Bureau analysis, there is some preliminary evidence that there was a problem with the last two questions (17c and 17d). For households who had a Census worker come to their house, there is some concern that these two questions were misread or misperceived because they came after a page turn. Slide 8

American Community Survey (ACS) The ACS is a Census Bureau survey, that is the same questionnaire as the Census 2000 long-form, (but does not suffer from the page-turn problem). It is an annual survey, so it will be more up-to-date. It is designed to give local estimates, currently at the county level. It is likely to be widely used by local governments in the areas of housing, transportation, community development and planning. Statistics from the 2002 ACS are available on the Census Bureau web site. We will be working with the ACS extensively and be adding it to our web site, Slide 9