The nexus between disability and poverty: A cross-sectional review
Keywords:
Disability, Poverty, Martya Sen’s Capability Model, Social model of disability, Vicious cycle, Deprivations, HardshipsAbstract
Grounded in Martya Sen’s Capability Model and the social model of disability, the purpose of the review is to expose and buttress the interrelationship between disability and poverty. The review explores the ‘unholy’ reciprocity between the two; the demographic measures of disability; education, training and employment of persons with disabilities; the cost of disability and the deprivation and hardship measures of disability and poverty. A vicious cycle has been found to exist between the two since disability and poverty are a cause and consequence of each other. Literature is replete with evidences of a positive correlation between the two phenomena. The review established that the vicious cycle of disability and poverty is exacerbated by the high cost of disability and further deepened by deprivations and hardships that often come with disability. This is a universal occurrence in all economies of the world such that persons with disabilities even in high economies are relatively poor. This scenario pushes people with disabilities deeper into dependence and vulnerability.’ Unfortunately, the existing literature seems to have universally accepted this vicious cycle as an automatic and natural occurring phenomenon when the root cause is actually negative societal attitude, stigma, stereotype and deliberate lack of support as well as marginalisation and systematic social exclusion of persons with disabilities. This author however deviates from this universal framing of the vicious cycle and recommends further research, advocacy and intervention that are informed by the need for socioeconomic empowerment of persons with disabilities to achieve independent living.
References
Braithwaite, J., Mont, D., 2009. Disability and poverty: A survey of world bank poverty assessments and implications. Eur. J. Disabil., 3, 219-232.
Coe, S., Wapling, L., 2010. Practical lessons from four projects on disability-inclusive development programming. Dev. Pract., 20(7), 879-886.
Department for International Development, 2000. Disability, Poverty and Development. London: DFID.
Despony, L., 1993. Human rights and disabled persons. New York: Centre for Human Rights.
Elwan, A., 1999. Poverty and disability: A survey of literature. Washington DC: Social Protection Unit, Human Development Network; World Bank.
Erb, S., Harriss-White, B., 2002. Outcast from social welfare: Adult disability; incapacity and development in rural douth India. Bangalore: Books for Change.
Filmer, F., 2008. Disability, poverty, and schooling in developing countries: Results from 14 household surveys. World Bank Econ. Rev., 22(1), 141-163.
Foley, D., Chowdhury, J., 2007. Poverty, social exclusion and the politics of disability: Care as a social good and the expenditure of social capital in Chaudanga, Bangladesh. Soc. Pol. Admin., (41), 372-385.
Ghai, A., 2001. Marginalisation and disability: Experiences from the third world. In Priestlely, M. (ed.) Disability and the life course. Cambridge: CUP.
Glendinning, C., Baldwin, S., 1988. The costs of disability. In Walker, R., Parker, G. (eds.) Money matters, income, wealth and financial welfare. London: Sage.
Haveman, R., Wolfe, B., 2000. The economics of disability and disability policy. In Culyer, A.J., Newhouse, J.P. (ed.) Handbook of health economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Hoogeven, J.G., 2005. Measuring welfare for small but vulnerable groups: Poverty and disability in Uganda. J. Afr. Econ., 14, 603-631.
Hughes, B., Paterson, K., 1997. The social model of disability and the disappearing body: towards a sociology of impairment. Disabil. Soc., 12, 325-340.
Jones, A., O’ Donnell, O., 1995. Equivalence scales and costs of disability. J. Publ. Econ., 56, 273-289.
Kraus, L., 2016. Disability statistics annual report: A publication of the rehabilitation research and training centre on disability statistics and demographics. Durham, NH: University of New Hamsphire.
Kuvalekar, K., Kamath, R., Ashok, L., Shatty, B., Mayya, S., Chandrasekaran, V., 2015. Quality of life among persons with physical disability in Udupi Taluk: A cross-sectional study. J. Fam. Med. Prim. Care, 4(1), 69-73.
Mitra, S., Posarac, A., Vick, B.C., 2013. Disability and poverty in developing countries: A snapshot from the world health survey. Washington DC: World Bank.
Mitra, S., Sambamoorthi, U., 2006. Employment of persons with disabilities: Evidence from the national sample survey. Econ. Polit. Wkly., 41, 4022-4026.
Mitra, S., Sambamoorthi, U., 2008. Disability and the rural labor market in India: Evidence for males in Tamil Nadu. World Dev., 56, 934-952.
Mont, D., Viet Cuong, 2011. Disability and poverty in Vietnam. World Bank Econ. Rev., 25(2), 323-359.
Palmer, M., 2011. Disability and poverty: A conceptual review. J. Disabil. Pol. Stud., 21(4), 210-218.
Perry, B., 2014. Household incomes in New Zealand: Trends in indicators of inequality and hardship (1982-2013). Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.
Rosano, A., Mancini, F., Solipaca, A., 2009. Poverty in people with disabilities: Indicators from the capabilities approach. Soc. Indicat. Res., 94, 75-82.
Saunders, P., 2007. The cost of disability and the incidence of poverty. Aust. J. Soc. Issues, 42, 461-480.
Sen, A., 1985. Commodities and capabilities. Amsterdam: North Hill.
Sen, A., 1993. Capability and well-being. In Nussbaum, M., Sen, A. (eds.) The quality of life. England: Clarendon Press.
Sen, A., 1999. Development as freedom. Oxford: OUP.
Shakespeare, T., Watson, N., 1997. Defending the social model. Disabil. Soc., 12, 293-300.
She, P., Livermore, G.A., 2007. Material hardship, poverty and disability among working- age adults. Soc. Sci. Q., 88, 970-989.
Stapleton, D.C., O’Day, B.L., Livermore, G.A., Imparato, A.J., 2006. Dismantling the poverty trap: Disability policy for the 21st century. Milbank Q., 84, 701-732.
Tesemma, S.T., 2014. Economic discourses of disability in Africa: An overview of lay and legislative narratives. African Disability Rights Yearbook, 2, 124-147.
Tinson, A., Aldridge, H., Born, T.B., Hughes, C., 2016. Disability and poverty: Why disability must be at the center of poverty reduction. London: JRF/NPI.
Trani, J.F., Bakhshi, P., Tlapek, S.M., Gall, F., 2015. Disability and poverty in Morocco and Tanzania: A multidimensional approach. J. Hum. Dev. Capabil., 16(4), 518-548.
Trani, J.F., Loeb, M.M., 2012. Poverty and disability; A vicious cycle? Evidence from Afghanistan and Zambia. J. Int. Dev., 24(S1), S19-S52.
Trani, J-F., Biggeri, M., Mauro, V., 2013. The multidimensionality of child poverty: Evidence from Afghanistan. Soc. Indicat. Res., 112, 391-416.
Trani, J-F., Cannings, T.I., 2013. Child poverty in an emergency and conflict context: A multidimensional profile and an identification of the poorest children in western Darfur. World Dev., 48, 48-70.
UNESCO, 2018. One in five children, adolescents and youth is out of school.
Wapling, L., 2010. The millennium development goals (MDGs) and disability inclusion: MDG1 eradicate extreme hunger and poverty. New York: UN.
Welch, P., 2002. Applying the capabilities approach in examining disability, poverty, and gender. Proceedings of the conference promoting women’s capabilities: Examining Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach. St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge, UK.
World Bank, 2007. People with disabilities in India: From commitment to outcomes.
Wynd, D., 2015. It shouldn’t be this hard: Children, poverty and disability. Auckland: Child Poverty Action Group.
Yeo, R., Moore, K., 2003. Including disabled people in poverty reduction work: Nothing about us, without us. World Dev., 31(3), 571-590.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Patrick Sibanda
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.