People with disabilities

Denmark has been a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since 2009. Under this Convention, Danish disability policies aim to create equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in line with the rest of the Danish population. This study describes the extent to which this aim has been achieved in 2016.

The study focuses on factors related to training/education, employment, self-support, quality of life, health, participation and availability as well as case work and discrimination. Thus, the report provides a broad picture, partly of conditions for the disabled in 2016, and partly of how these conditions have developed since the first round of surveys in 2012.

The study reveals major differences between people with and without disabilities, also when in areas that are fundamental for the welfare state, such as education and employment. There are no indications that the differences have been reduced over time: By far the majority of the conditions highlighted in the study show only few or no statistically significant differences when comparing 2012 and 2016.

The analysis also reveals that the disabled constitute a diverse group, and that people with different types of disabilities experience different barriers. Overall, it seems that people with serious mental disabilities are confronted with most barriers, and with the greatest barriers. Conversely, on several of the parametres covered by the study, people with minor physical disabilities generally perform best, and sometimes even as well as people without disabilities.