An Accommodation for Whom? Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed the Landscape of Flexible and Remote Work for Workers with Disabilities?

Abstract

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible and remote work was viewed as a silver bullet that would increase employment rates among people with disabilities. This view fails to recognize that not all workers with disabilities can obtain jobs that can be done remotely or on a flexible schedule. Data from the 2019 and 2021 years of the Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey were used to examine if disabled workers’ gender, race, ethnicity, age, and education, increase (or decrease) their chances of accessing flexible and remote work and if the group of workers with disabilities who access such options expanded since the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that compared to their non-disabled counterparts, prior to the pandemic, workers with disabilities reported similar rates of flexible and remote work. Workers with disabilities, however, had lower rates of remote work after the start of the pandemic. Regardless of year, flexible and remote work rates vary by demographic group, with disabled workers who are white, female, and college-educated more likely to access these options than multiply marginalized disabled workers.