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Presentation

Session: Posters
Room: TBA
Time: Fri 13:00-14:30

Presenter: Brenda Gannon (University of Limerick. Department of Economics)

Abstract

Interventions to promote the wellbeing and social inclusion of people with disabilities include policies to ensure adequate income for people living with disabilities or those caring for a person with a disability. Recent data analysed for Ireland suggests a strong link between disability status and household poverty, with greater disparities evident for households with a person whose disability severely hampers their daily activities. Furthermore, there exists substantial evidence to suggest that disability is highly prevalent amongst persons of older age. Within this context this paper estimates the welfare implications of disability for older people in Ireland. We define and estimate models of the private costs borne by households with older persons who have a disability in Ireland, both in general and by severity of illness or condition. Our modelling framework is based on the standard of living approach to estimating the cost of disability. The model quantifies the extra costs of living associated with disability and is estimated by comparing the standard of living of households with and without disabled members at a given income, controlling for other sources of variation. The analysis suggests that the estimated economic cost of disability for older people in Ireland is significant and varies by severity of disability as well as by household type. On average, the estimated cost is €98.07 per week at the median income level, increasing to €203.04 per week for those most severely affected. The results also suggest that the economic cost of disability increases in proportionate terms as the number of people in the household decreases. Our results are important when considering the effectiveness of policies that aim to address the economic problems associated with disability for older people, suggesting that current policy in Ireland does not go far enough. The findings support the case for the introduction of disability-adjusted poverty payments.

Key Terms

Disability; standard of living; older people; severity of disability; poverty; disability payments, Ireland.

Authors:

John Cullinan (University of Limerick. Department of Economics) , Brenda Gannon (National University of Ireland, Galway. Irish Centre for Social Gerontology) and Eamon O'Shea (National University of Ireland, Galway. Irish Centre for Social Gerontology)

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