Greetings—
As economic mobility rates have stagnated in the United States, communities across the country have committed to dismantling structural barriers to prosperity and building systems that support upward mobility from poverty. Disabled people, who are twice as likely to live in poverty, face additional structural barriers across housing, health care, employment, education, and the justice system.
A new blog post from Urban Institute researchers shares that local leaders should prioritize embedding disability equity in their efforts to ensure that upward mobility initiatives are inclusive and effective for all community members.
The researchers define a disability-inclusive definition of upward mobility as:
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Respecting a person’s inherent dignity and their role as a member belonging to the community. For people with disabilities, this includes creating physical and societal structures that provide appropriate supports which enable and encourage participation in community.
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Giving people the power and autonomy to make choices about their lives. Disability rights advocates pioneered the concept “nothing about us without us” to emphasize the importance of engaging with and including disabled people in decision-making and choice over their own lives.
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Ensuring local policies and practices provide the financial resources necessary for economic success. Communities can promote financial security for people with disabilities by advocating for the removal of explicit income restrictions on federal and state programs and implementing local solutions like living wage laws, inclusive apprenticeships, and guaranteed basic income programs.
To learn more about Urban's Upward Mobility Initiative, visit the webpage. A recent report examines
how to engage communities in measurement and data-driven decisionmaking to create meaningful change.
If you have questions or would like to speak with the research team, please email me.
Sincerely,
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Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that believes in the power of evidence to improve people’s lives. Urban as an organization does not take policy positions but Urban’s independent experts are empowered to make recommendations based on their research.
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