Background: Persons with disabilities face many obstacles in their attempts at social integration, particularly in the labor market.
Objective: The study investigates patterns of transition among different employment situations by persons with disabilities relative to persons without disabilities. It also studies employment transitions among individuals who hold part-time jobs in relation with their long-term level of physical disability.
Methods: Probability models that explain transitions in employment status among persons aged 25-54 in dependence of possible changes over time in the severity of their disability.
Results: Patterns of disability do not persist over time. Improvement of disability does not increase the share of persons employed in both investigation periods as well as the share of those not employed at both times. Unexpectedly, few people who are not employed and whose disabilities improve manage to join the labor market when their disabilities improve. Also, few who are employed part-time and whose disabilities improve managed to switch to larger posts when their disabilities improve.
Conclusions: The labor market imposes scars on people with disability whose condition improves somewhat, hindering their chances of re-integration into the workforce. To assure them a regular income and employment rehabilitation, public-policy programs should be expanded.
Keywords: Disability; employment; job extent; surveillance; transition.