Post-School Destination—A Study of Women and Men With Intellectual Disability and the Gender-Segregated Swedish Labor Market

Knowledge about people with intellectual disability (ID) and their connections to the labor market is scarce. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the entry into and representation in the Swedish labor market for people with ID, discussed with a special focus on the gender perspective. This study included 2,745 individuals (30% women and 70% men) who graduated from Swedish upper secondary schools for pupils with intellectual disability (USSID) in the 2000s, and who were defined as employees in 2011. Graduation data from 2001 to 2011 were analyzed in relation to employment data from 2011 and adjusted for gender, graduation year, and educational program. Results show that men who attended a national USSID program and graduated between 2001 and 2006 were the most likely group to have a job. The authors conclude that the gender differences in the Swedish labor market are more clearly pronounced among women and men with ID in relation to employment rate, wage levels, and professions than in the general population. Education, welfare-services, and interventions specifically targeted to meet the needs of people with ID have to develop in more gender-sensitive ways. © 2016 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The study received financial support from MISA AB, Stockholm, Sweden.