Childhood disability, social class and social mobility: A neglected relationship

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Stella Chatzitheochari focuses on the importance of social class for disabled young people's outcomes, emphasizing the need for intersectional analyses of disability inequalities.

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Institution: University of Warwick

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Stella Chatzitheochari focuses on the importance of social class for disabled young people’s outcomes, emphasizing the need for intersectional analyses of disability inequalities.

Image courtesy of interviewee. April 30, 2024

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This video video discusses the concept of disability, particularly in the context of childhood, highlighting that it includes a wide range of physical and mental differences that deviate from societal norms. It emphasizes the impact of disability on learning and development, particularly for children with special educational needs. The narrative draws attention to the socioeconomic factors associated with disability, noting that disabled children often come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and are more likely to encounter adverse outcomes in adulthood, such as lower educational and occupational attainment.

The research identified in the text investigates how disability status interacts with social class, exploring whether disabled individuals from upper or middle-class families have better outcomes compared to those from working-class backgrounds. The findings indicate that disabled individuals from working-class families experience significantly more challenges and disadvantages, particularly in terms of unemployment and social mobility, compared to their non-disabled peers.

This video video calls for more comprehensive data and research to understand the nuances of disability discrimination, particularly how different impairments may lead to varying experiences of disadvantage. It highlights the need for longitudinal studies to track outcomes over time and emphasizes the importance of understanding the sources of discrimination, whether that be in educational settings or the labor market. Overall, it advocates for more research to inform policies that could better address the specific needs and challenges faced by disabled individuals across different social classes.

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So generally speaking, disability is a term

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that encompasses a wide range of mind

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and body differences that fall outside

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societal expectations of normality.

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Really, when it comes to childhood disability,

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the focus is very much on

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societal expectations surrounding learning and development.

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So we're not just thinking about children

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and young people who have certain longstanding

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conditions or illnesses.

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We're also thinking of those who have

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special learning needs, so to speak.

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These are often children

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and young people who are identified

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as having special educational needs in school settings.

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This means that they require different,

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a different learning approach often than the one that tends

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to work for the average non-disabled student

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that does not have special educational needs.

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So yes, I would say that it's a,

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it's a wide ranging term that really includes

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d a heterogeneous population.

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Uh, yeah. Yes, certainly.

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So the re example evidence from national representative,

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studies both in the uk, England, as well

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as other countries that disabled children

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and young people generally tend to come, are,

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are more likely to come from socio,

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economically disadvantaged families.

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That's not always the case, but it is more likely.

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And at the same time, we know that individuals

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who have experienced childhood disability

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or adolescent disability are also more likely

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to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood.

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So you may think about educational attainment

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or educational attainment or occupational attainment.

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So while there was a lot of large scale evidence,

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surrounding the adverse socioeconomic outcomes of

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disabled young people in England, we didn't really know

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how disability status interacts with other characteristics.

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And precisely because we knew that,

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disabled young people are more likely

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to come from socioeconomic disadvantage.

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We turned our focus to social class.

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And what we wanted to see precisely was how social class

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and disability status interact.

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And we wanted to see whether those from upper class

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or middle class families,

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who are disabled have different outcomes than those from

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working class, families.

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Um, and that was quite novel in the sense

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that generally disability studied as a,

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as a homogenous group.

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Disabled people are studied as a homogenous group.

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Uh, that's partly because there are data limitations

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and researchers are not able to look at these things.

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So that was the novelty of the paper.

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Looking at these two characteristics together,

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I would would say that it's, it's precisely,

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so it combines,

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it combines insights from both visibility studies as well

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as social stratification literature.

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So for those who are not aware

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of social certification literature,

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that's more like traditional mainstream sociology

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where we look at social hierarchy, how people,

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end up in certain positions in society.

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And on the other hand,

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disability studies is an interdisciplinary field

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that has really turned our focus to the structural barriers

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that disabled people face.

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So what we really wanted to do was to really highlight,

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all these, inequalities in social mobility,

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between non-disabled and disabled people,

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but also,

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between disabled people within the disability group, so

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between disabled people of different social classes.

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Uh, and by doing that we really wanted

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to also encourage researchers

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to start thinking about the

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intersection of these two stages.

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So the UK is a place

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that provides very good longitudinal data.

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These are data that follow individuals over time.

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So individuals are interviewed,

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every few years time or something like that.

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So you have data on them, across their life course.

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So this was next steps, that's a longitudinal study.

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Uh, it started as a school cohort,

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but now they keep on following these people who were born

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between 1989 to 1990.

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Um, and we were able to use data

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from when they were aged 14 to 15.

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Uh, and we were then able to see

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where they were when they were aged 25.

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So effectively what we did is we had a measure

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of their social class at age 14,

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and then we had a measure of their social class at age 25.

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And in social mobility research, this is precisely

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what you do, you look at destination,

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you look at origin, excuse me,

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and destination in terms of social class.

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So we were able really to trace their pathways.

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So for example, did they start from a low social class?

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Did they end up in a low social class

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or did they experience upward mobility and so on.

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So these were very powerful data.

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Usually in disability studies, we do not have access

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to such longitudinal nationally representative data.

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Like previous studies, we certainly found big discrepancies

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between non-disabled and disabled people.

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That in itself, was not very novel.

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We were expecting to see that what was more novel is

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that we did, certainly, according to our expectations, found

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that, disability status has a disproportionate nega

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disproportionately negative effect on those from

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working class backgrounds.

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So there were a lot more likely, to exper to,

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to end up in unemployment.

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They were also a lot less likely than non-disabled people

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from working class backgrounds

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to experience amport mobility.

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So indeed, it was a very, it is a very

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neglected, group in policy and in research.

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And we find that it's experiencing really a lot more

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disadvantaged than other groups.

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This is not to say that disabled middle class people

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or upper class people do not experience disadvantage.

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They are more disadvantaged than non-disabled people.

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But there's a stark difference across

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the social class spectrum.

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So I would say that we need more data,

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we need better data to understand why this happens.

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One of the things that we cannot

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really draw conclusions about,

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and this is where we need more data about, is whether

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individuals with different conditions,

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different impairments, whether they experience the,

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whether they end up in these positions

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for the same reasons, so to speak.

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Okay? So there may be de different reasons, different types

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of discrimination experienced by different groups.

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And in terms of policy, that's very important.

07:10.035 --> 07:13.895
That's why we need to be able to tell how these varies,

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you know, what are the experiences, for example,

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of autistic young people, what are the experiences

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of physically disabled young people?

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Are there differences between them

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or are we talking about, the same mechanism, so

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to speak, of disadvantage?

07:26.635 --> 07:31.215
Um, we also need, more,

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more research on what happens later on.

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We still don't have evidence on what happens,

07:36.835 --> 07:38.935
say at age 35 or at age 50.

07:39.555 --> 07:42.335
So ideally we would like to see more funding

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around these longitudinal studies to be able to trace them,

07:45.115 --> 07:46.695
and that would also be very powerful.

07:48.035 --> 07:51.615
In general, the most important thing I would say is

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to conduct research

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that tells us more about the sources of discrimination.

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So does this happen early on in school?

07:58.235 --> 08:00.615
Is this all because of educational attainment

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or is there also discrimination in the labor market?

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So lack of reasonable adjustments

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or, you know, discrimination in hiring processes and so on.

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So it's a very complex puzzle

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and we certainly need more data to be able to solve it.

Understanding Disability and Socioeconomic Disparities

00:00:00 - So generally speaking, disability is a term that encompasses a wide range of mind and body differences that fall outside societal expectations of normality. Really, when it comes to childhood disability, the focus is very much on societal expectations surrounding learning and development. So we're not just thinking about children and young people who have certain longstanding conditions or illnesses. We're also thinking of those who have
00:00:34 - These are often children and young people who are identified as having special educational needs in school settings. This means that they require different, a different learning approach often than the one that tends to work for the average non-disabled student that does not have special educational needs. So yes, I would say that it's a, it's a wide ranging term that really includes
00:01:09 - yeah. Yes, certainly. So the re example evidence from national representative, studies both in the uk, England, as well as other countries that disabled children and young people generally tend to come, are, are more likely to come from socio, economically disadvantaged families. That's not always the case, but it is more likely. And at the same time, we know that individuals
00:01:40 - or adolescent disability are also more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. So you may think about educational attainment or educational attainment or occupational attainment. So while there was a lot of large scale evidence, surrounding the adverse socioeconomic outcomes of disabled young people in England, we didn't really know how disability status interacts with other characteristics.
00:02:13 - disabled young people are more likely to come from socioeconomic disadvantage. We turned our focus to social class. And what we wanted to see precisely was how social class and disability status interact. And we wanted to see whether those from upper class or middle class families, who are disabled have different outcomes than those from working class, families. and that was quite novel in the sense
00:02:44 - as a homogenous group. Disabled people are studied as a homogenous group. that's partly because there are data limitations and researchers are not able to look at these things. So that was the novelty of the paper. Looking at these two characteristics together, I would would say that it's, it's precisely, so it combines, it combines insights from both visibility studies as well as social stratification literature.

Intersection of Disability and Social Class

00:03:13 - of social certification literature, that's more like traditional mainstream sociology where we look at social hierarchy, how people, end up in certain positions in society. And on the other hand, disability studies is an interdisciplinary field that has really turned our focus to the structural barriers that disabled people face. So what we really wanted to do was to really highlight, all these, inequalities in social mobility,
00:03:45 - but also, between disabled people within the disability group, so between disabled people of different social classes. and by doing that we really wanted to also encourage researchers to start thinking about the intersection of these two stages. So the UK is a place that provides very good longitudinal data. These are data that follow individuals over time. So individuals are interviewed,
00:04:17 - So you have data on them, across their life course. So this was next steps, that's a longitudinal study. it started as a school cohort, but now they keep on following these people who were born between 1989 to 1990. and we were able to use data from when they were aged 14 to 15. and we were then able to see
00:04:50 - So effectively what we did is we had a measure of their social class at age 14, and then we had a measure of their social class at age 25. And in social mobility research, this is precisely what you do, you look at destination, you look at origin, excuse me, and destination in terms of social class. So we were able really to trace their pathways. So for example, did they start from a low social class? Did they end up in a low social class
00:05:21 - So these were very powerful data. Usually in disability studies, we do not have access to such longitudinal nationally representative data. Like previous studies, we certainly found big discrepancies between non-disabled and disabled people. That in itself, was not very novel. We were expecting to see that what was more novel is that we did, certainly, according to our expectations, found that, disability status has a disproportionate nega
00:05:54 - working class backgrounds. So there were a lot more likely, to exper to, to end up in unemployment. They were also a lot less likely than non-disabled people from working class backgrounds to experience amport mobility. So indeed, it was a very, it is a very neglected, group in policy and in research. And we find that it's experiencing really a lot more disadvantaged than other groups.

Understanding Social Disparities in Disability Outcomes

00:06:26 - or upper class people do not experience disadvantage. They are more disadvantaged than non-disabled people. But there's a stark difference across the social class spectrum. So I would say that we need more data, we need better data to understand why this happens. One of the things that we cannot really draw conclusions about, and this is where we need more data about, is whether
00:06:54 - different impairments, whether they experience the, whether they end up in these positions for the same reasons, so to speak. Okay? So there may be de different reasons, different types of discrimination experienced by different groups. And in terms of policy, that's very important. That's why we need to be able to tell how these varies, you know, what are the experiences, for example, of autistic young people, what are the experiences of physically disabled young people? Are there differences between them or are we talking about, the same mechanism, so
00:07:26 - we also need, more, more research on what happens later on. We still don't have evidence on what happens, say at age 35 or at age 50. So ideally we would like to see more funding around these longitudinal studies to be able to trace them, and that would also be very powerful. In general, the most important thing I would say is to conduct research that tells us more about the sources of discrimination.
00:08:11 - Is this all because of educational attainment or is there also discrimination in the labor market? So lack of reasonable adjustments or, you know, discrimination in hiring processes and so on. So it's a very complex puzzle and we certainly need more data to be able to solve it.

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