Nearly a third of all individuals who received assistance from the federal government are disabled, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Forty-six million adults benefited from income-based government aid, either in the form of cash or in-kind assistance (services, goods and vouchers), in 2011, and of this total, 30.4% had a disability.

Among those receiving both cash and in-kind assistance, the percentage of beneficiaries with disabilities jumped to 58.3%.

“On average, people with disabilities have lower employment and earnings; therefore, understanding what assistance people with disabilities receive may help governments better coordinate and administer their programs,” said Bernice Boursiquot, a Census Bureau statistician and co-author of the report (Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011).

People with disabilities included those having vision, hearing, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care or independent living difficulties.

In West Virginia, 41.7% of those receiving federal assistance had disabilities, whereas in Arizona, only 25.1% did.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Census Bureau Report Shows 30 Percent of Adults Receiving Government Assistance Have a Disability (U.S. Census Bureau)

Disability Characteristics of Income-Based Government Assistance Recipients in the United States: 2011 (by Bernice L. Boursiquot and Matthew W. Brault, U.S. Census Bureau) (pdf)