An estimated 1 in 5 Americans, nearly 56.7 million, live with a disability. While expressing an ability, desire and willingness to work in the community and contribute to the economy, many adults and youth with disabilities experience significant barriers to employment. Despite progress made since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, of 1990 and comparable equal opportunity and nondiscrimination laws passed by most states, people with disabilities still experience unemployment rates far above the national average, and the percentage of people with disabilities participating in our workforce is far below the rate for people without disabilities. According to the July 2016 Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Sex, Age, and Disability Status (not seasonally adjusted) table published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 19.8 percent of people with disabilities participate in the workforce compared to 68.7 percent without disabilities, and the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 8.7 percent, compared to 4.6 percent for people without disabilities. 
Consequently, individuals with disabilities continue to experience poverty and economic insecurity in substantial numbers and disproportionately compared to individuals without disabilities. The 2014 American Community Survey indicates that 28.2 percent of non-institutionalized people with disabilities age 18–64 fall below the poverty line, compared to 13 percent of people without disabilities age 18–64. In 2013, non-institutionalized people with disabilities age 21–64 had average annual earnings of $38,300, earning on average $5,000 dollars less per year than their peers without disabilities.

How is disability defined?
The term “disability” is defined in state and federal legislation and in demographic surveys in various ways, depending on the context and purposes of the legislation or survey. For purposes of federal disability nondiscrimination laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the term “disability” means, with respect to an individual: (1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.