73 million Americans have a disability. The employment gap is 43 percentage points. The SSI asset limit — $2,000 — hasn't changed since 1989.
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Approximately 73 million Americans — 28.7% of all adults — have some form of disability. That makes the disability community the largest minority group in the United States, and the only one that anyone can join at any time through illness, accident, or aging.
When people hear "disability," they often picture wheelchairs. But the majority of disabilities are invisible: chronic pain, autoimmune conditions, mental health disorders, learning disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, diabetes, epilepsy, and hundreds of other conditions that profoundly affect daily life without being apparent to observers. Only 7% of disabilities involve mobility impairments that require a wheelchair. The rest are cognitive, sensory, psychiatric, or related to chronic illness.
The disability community is growing. As the American population ages — by 2030, one in five Americans will be over 65 — disability rates will rise sharply. This is not a niche issue. It is a demographic reality that will touch every family, every community, and every sector of the economy. The question is whether American policy will be ready.
Disability intersects with every other policy area the Common Good Party addresses: healthcare (access to treatment and coverage), housing (accessible and affordable housing), employment (the 43-point employment gap), education (inclusive classrooms and accommodations), transportation (accessible transit systems). A disability policy that works cannot be siloed — it must be woven into every policy area.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was a landmark civil rights achievement — the most comprehensive disability rights legislation in the world. It transformed physical access to public spaces. But it left the employment gap virtually unchanged, and enforcement has been chronically weak.
What went right: Before the ADA, wheelchair users couldn't enter most buildings. Deaf individuals had no right to interpreters in hospitals. Employers could legally refuse to hire someone because of a disability. The ADA changed all of that — at least on paper. Curb cuts, ramps, accessible restrooms, Braille signage, and closed captioning are now standard features of American public life. These physical accessibility improvements have been genuinely transformative.
What went wrong: The ADA's employment provisions have been its biggest failure. The employment rate for people with disabilities is just 21% — compared to 64% for people without disabilities — a gap that has barely changed since 1990. Enforcement relies primarily on individual lawsuits, which are expensive, time-consuming, and intimidating for plaintiffs who depend on the employers they would be suing. The EEOC is chronically underfunded and carries a massive backlog of complaints.
The ADA also failed to anticipate the digital age. Websites, mobile apps, online shopping, telemedicine, and remote work tools are now essential to daily life — and most are not fully accessible to people with visual, auditory, cognitive, or motor impairments. The law's silence on digital accessibility has created a patchwork of court decisions and no clear national standard.
Perhaps most troublingly, the ADA did not end subminimum wage. Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act still allows employers to pay disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage — sometimes pennies per hour — in so-called "sheltered workshops." Over a dozen states have banned this practice, but it remains legal at the federal level. The Common Good plan would end it nationwide. See the full disability rights policy for details.
The Common Good plan goes beyond the ADA to build a disability policy that matches the scale of the challenge: 73 million Americans, a 43-point employment gap, a poverty rate twice the national average, and a benefits system designed to keep people poor.
The plan is built on eight core provisions, each addressing a specific structural failure in current disability policy.
For the complete plan with legislative detail, cost projections, and sourcing, see the full disability rights issue page.
The ADA was a pioneering law — but other countries have since surpassed the US in disability employment, poverty reduction, accessibility, and community integration. The comparison is instructive.
| Country | Employment Rate | Poverty Rate | Asset Limits | Accessibility Law | Transit Access | Digital Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 21% | 26% | $2,000 | ADA (1990) | Mixed | No standard |
| United Kingdom | 53% | 27% | ~$20,000 | Equality Act (2010) | Strong | Mandatory WCAG |
| Germany | 57% | 18% | No limit | BGG + AGG | Strong | Mandatory EU std. |
| Sweden | 62% | 12% | No limit | Discrimination Act | Universal | Mandatory EU std. |
| Australia | 48% | 21% | ~$8,000 | DDA (1992) + NDIS | Moderate | Mandatory WCAG |
| Japan | 50% | 16% | ~$7,500 | BLPD (2013) | Strong | JIS standard |
The US has the lowest disability employment rate and the lowest asset limits of any country in this comparison. Sweden's employment rate for disabled people is nearly three times the American rate. Germany has no asset limit at all for disability benefits. Every country on this list except the US has established mandatory digital accessibility standards.
Sources: OECD Disability Employment Data, UN CRPD Country Reports, European Accessibility Act. See the full disability rights page for complete sourcing.
The Supplemental Security Income program limits individual recipients to $2,000 in total countable assets — a threshold set in 1989 and never updated. If it had kept pace with inflation, it would be approximately $5,000 today. The Common Good plan raises it to $10,000 and indexes it permanently.
The $2,000 limit means that SSI recipients cannot save for emergencies. A single unexpected car repair, medical bill, or home maintenance cost can become a financial catastrophe. Most Americans are advised to maintain three to six months of expenses in an emergency fund. SSI recipients are prohibited from saving more than $2,000 — an amount that doesn't cover even one month of rent in most American cities.
The limit also creates a marriage penalty. When two SSI recipients marry, their combined asset limit rises to just $3,000 — less than the $4,000 they were allowed to hold separately. Couples are forced to choose between marriage and benefits. This is not an unintended consequence — it is a design flaw that Congress has known about for decades and refused to fix.
The asset limit functions as a poverty trap by design. Recipients cannot build savings, cannot invest in education or job training, cannot accumulate the small buffer that separates "getting by" from "financial crisis." The policy doesn't just fail to help people escape poverty — it actively prevents them from doing so. It punishes the exact behavior (saving, planning, investing in the future) that every other government program encourages.
Updating the limit to $10,000, indexed to inflation, would allow SSI recipients to maintain a modest emergency fund, get married without penalty, and participate in basic financial planning. The cost is minimal — estimated at under $2 billion per year — and the human impact is enormous. For the complete SSI reform proposal, see the full disability rights policy and the safety net policy.
Disability policy is shaped by misconceptions that have persisted for decades — misconceptions that serve as excuses for inaction. Here are the four most damaging myths and what the evidence actually shows.
Myth: "Disability is rare."
Reality: 73 million Americans — more than one in four adults — have a disability. It is the largest minority group in the country, and the only one with open membership: anyone can become disabled at any age through accident, illness, or simply growing older. By 2030, as the baby boom generation ages, disability rates will rise even further. This is not someone else's issue. It is statistically likely to become your issue, or the issue of someone you love.
Myth: "The ADA fixed everything."
Reality: The ADA was a historic achievement in physical accessibility and legal protections. But the disability employment gap has barely changed since 1990. Enforcement is weak and relies on individual lawsuits. Digital accessibility has no clear federal standard. Subminimum wage is still legal. The SSI asset limit is frozen at 1989 levels. The ADA was a beginning, not an ending — and 35 years later, the unfinished work is enormous.
Myth: "Accommodations are too expensive."
Reality: According to the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), 49% of workplace accommodations cost nothing at all. Of those that do have a cost, the median is $300. Adjustable desks, screen readers, flexible schedules, and modified duties are not expensive — they're routine. Meanwhile, the cost of not accommodating — turnover, absenteeism, lost productivity, discrimination lawsuits — far exceeds the cost of a $300 accommodation. Inclusion is not a charity. It's good business.
Myth: "Disabled people can't work."
Reality: The employment gap is not caused by inability — it's caused by barriers. Inaccessible workplaces, discrimination in hiring, inadequate transportation, fear of losing benefits, and lack of accommodations keep millions of capable people out of the workforce. In Sweden, where these barriers are systematically addressed, the disability employment rate is 62%. The problem is not disabled people — it's a system that wasn't designed for them. For more, see the full disability rights plan.
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The ADA was a beginning. The employment gap, the poverty trap, the frozen asset limit — these are fixable. Read the full plan and see exactly how we build a country that includes everyone.