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Who are Disabled Parents?

Who are Disabled Parents?

FAQs

Why did you choose this dataset?

The American Community Survey (ACS), implemented by the United States Census Bureau, is one of the largest, broadest, and most comprehensive surveys in the country. The ACS typically attempts to sample 3 million people every year, and is done in a way to allow for reliable data for a variety of geographies (e.g. state-level data). We used the newly released 2018-2022 5-year ACS sample, which pools and weights the around 15 million people sampled to represent a five year average, to improve the reliability of our estimates. Despite its limitations, using ACS data for this dashboard allowed us to share data on disabled parents in individual states and amongst specific populations within those states--something that isn't possible with other data.

 

How is disability defined?

Parents were classified as having a given disability (yes/no) if they responded yes to the corresponding disability question (hearing, vision, cognitive, physical, self-care, independent living) and as having any disability if they responded yes to any of the six questions.  Parents were classified as having multiple disabilities if they responded yes to more than one of the six questions. The six questions are as follows: 

  1. Are you deaf, or do you have serious difficulty hearing? (hearing)
  2. Are you blind, or do you have serious difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses? (vision)
  3. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions? (cognitive)
  4. Do you have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?  (physical)
  5. Do you have difficulty dressing or bathing?  (self-care)
  6. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping? (independent living)

How are parents defined?

Parental status was defined as any person aged 18 years or older co-residing with a child(ren) under 18 years in the household.  First, every minor is identified to ensure all are accounted for. We assigned minor children under 18 to, by the following order of priority: 

  1. mothers or fathers;  
  2. grandparents;  
  3. the oldest adult in the family unit;  
  4. the oldest adult in the household. 

Thus, we classified individuals aged 18 or more to be a parent or caregiver if they were assigned a minor child(ren) under 18 based on the above-mentioned order of priority. Spouses or partners of any identified parents/caregivers were also assigned the same status and are presumed to jointly share responsibility for the minor(s) assigned to either adult. 

The data does not allow us to identify parents with non-resident children.  This is a key limitation, since it excludes parents who do not have custody of their children.

 

How is poverty defined?

Poverty is defined in accordance with the federal poverty level. The federal guidelines are listed on the ASPE's website under HHS Poverty Guidelines.

 

Why does the dashboard not include other intersectional or marginalized identities, such as LGBTQ+ identities?

Unfortunately, the source data does not include information about sexual orientation or gender identity. As data becomes more available, we hope to include this information in further datasets. 

 

Can you separate people with a specific developmental disability?

Unfortunately, no. The dataset has limited questions on disability, and only the self-care and go-outside-home disability questions, plus four other broad questions (vision, hearing, physical, and cognitive disabilities) are available. 

 

Could we break down the data by county?

Many of the over three thousand counties in the United States have a small number of people, let alone disabled people. The number of people gets even smaller when considering further filters, such as sex, race/ethnicity, or poverty status. Both to protect individuals’ identities and to maintain reliable estimates, we are not able to display data by county. 

 

How will this be used?

We hope that this dashboard can be used by self-advocates, policy makers, disability advocacy organizations, and others to support disabled parents and their families.  

 

Why are the population numbers rounded (e.g. exactly 5000)? Given that the source data is a weighted survey, where are the standard errors or confidence intervals?

For anyone interested in the raw estimates, standard errors, and confidence intervals, please contact us at CenterForParents@brandeis.edu. 

 

How to cite this dashboard

National Center for Parents with Disabilities (2024). Who are Disabled Parents? [Data dashboard]. The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy. https://heller.brandeis.edu/parents-with-disabilities/who-are-disabled-parents.html

 

Funding Statement

The contents of this dashboard were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90DPCP0012).  NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS. 

 

Share your thoughts

Help us improve our dashboard by emailing us about your experience!

We’re working with a consultant to continuously improve any accessibility issues. Accessibility is a priority to us-please contact us at CenterForParents@brandeis.edu if you encounter any issues.