Early next month, we will celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, under the 2021 theme of “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world”. This annual observance provides an opportunity to take stock of public policy approaches, for example, in accessible affordable housing, and to reconsider their efficacy towards true integration of persons with disabilities, and to realize their right to an adequate standard of living.
From a U.S. perspective – federal mandates require 7% of government subsidized housing to be set-aside for households that include one or more persons with a vision, hearing, or mobility disability. However, this does not account for those with mental, emotional, cognitive, and other disabilities – the former of which will inevitably expand in the wake of a traumatic global pandemic. A recent study on disability prevalence in New York City found that among working-age New Yorkers, 8% have a disability and 19% live in a household with a person who has a disability[1]. At a global level, a median share of households with adults with functional difficulty were found to be much higher, at 27.8%[2]. By these accounts, the current U.S. mandate is amongst the lowest of these figures and doesn’t include significant categories of people with the cognitive or “invisible” disabilities.
As we look to advance the leadership and participation of persons with disabilities in post-COVID-19 world, it will be important to consider how data should be used to inform policy that addresses the disability gap in accessible affordable housing. Should efforts be made to more accurately capture the percent of these three categories of disabilities, and then offer affordable housing at the same rates? Or, should federal mandates be expanded to also include other categories of disabilities and if so, to what extent?
[1] Maury, M and Mitra, S. (2020). Disability in New York City, Poverty, Hardship, and Covid-19. Center on Poverty and Social Policy and Fordham University.
[2] Mitra, S. and Yap, J. (2021). The Disability Data Report. Disability Data Initiative. Fordham Research Consortium on Disability: New York.
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