More than 4 million Californians over age 16 reported some type of disability in 2022, with over 1 million in their “prime” working years (25 to 54). Most Californians with a disability are working—but at a lower rate than working age Californians overall (58% vs. 86%). Today, historic increases in workplace flexibility offer the potential to expand and improve work opportunities.

Labor force participation among prime age Californians with a disability has increased by over 14% since 2019, while workers with no disabilities saw virtually no change. This shift likely reflects pandemic changes that improved opportunities and/or reduced barriers, such as remote work. Indeed, workers with disabilities who had some college or a college degree saw the largest increases in participation, which aligns with the kinds of jobs and workers who moved into remote work since the pandemic. Adults with disabilities who do not hold a high school diploma saw no increase.

Many adults with disabilities still face significant barriers to employment, which vary across disability type. People who report cognitive difficulties with remembering things or concentrating saw the largest jump (31%) in participation over the past few years. This jump occurred as far more Californians report cognitive issues, suggesting compositional changes could be driving some workforce gains. National trends also reflect an increase in cognitive disability, with some trends pointing toward long COVID as a contributing factor.

To better understand these trends and the policy levers to support adults with disabilities—and California’s broader economy—we convened a group of policy experts, practitioners, and advocates to provide insights into the challenges facing adults with disabilities in California’s workforce.

Several notable insights emerged from our conversation:

Access to benefits is key. For people with disabilities, essential supports such as health care, long-term care, and income support interact in complex ways with workforce participation, sometimes disincentivizing work. Important efforts include mitigating benefit cliffs—when relatively small increases in workers’ incomes drastically reduce the amount of safety net benefits their families receive—and creating effective on- and off-ramps between benefits and work.
Remote work removed barriers for some, but the future is uncertain. Increased flexibility has been a game changer for working people with disabilities, but remote arrangements can be pared back by employers (including government). Working with employers to improve pathways to remote and flexible arrangements will be key.
Policymakers need more comprehensive information. While labor force participation is a useful indicator, quantifying other employment factors such as hours worked, wage levels, sectors, and regional differences, and who is most affected (e.g., by age and onset of disability) would provide a more complete picture of labor market realities.
Strong relationships across entities and regional coordination are critical. State workforce policies do not typically focus on this community, and many programs are siloed by agency and funding stream. Without a comprehensive statewide strategy, multiple agencies across regions must work together; this type of collaboration is more developed in some regions than others.
More work-based learning, apprenticeships, and internships are needed. Especially for young people with disabilities, on-the-job training can support the transition from education to the workforce. To facilitate these opportunities, workforce agencies need to engage with employers; tax incentives and targeted outreach to specific businesses were cited as effective strategies for developing employer partnerships.

To maintain recent gains in employment among people with disabilities, work must integrate with programs that support health, personal care, and accommodation needs. Over 1 million working age Californians report a disability—that is equivalent to the number of workers the state has “lost” due to an aging population over the past two decades. Targeted policy efforts to promote an inclusive labor market will help the state reach its economic potential and ensure that all Californians benefit from—and contribute to—the state’s economic engine.