The standard of living of persons with disabilities: marked differences according to the limitations

Source: Studies and Results No. 1003, March 2017

Author: Anaïs Levieil (DREES)

In 2010, the median annual standard of living for persons with disabilities aged 15-64 is EUR 18 500, which is EUR 2 000 less than that of people without disabilities. This gap is all the more important as the limitation is severe. The median standard of living for people with a severe limitation is EUR 16 800.

Having mental, visual or multiple types of limitations increases the risk of having a low standard of living and living below the poverty line, while having a mild, mild psychic or auditory motor limitation seems to affect the standard of living less.

30 % of people with severe mental limitations live below the poverty line, compared with only 10 % of those with hearing loss. The differences are partly due to very different family and work situations depending on the type of disability.