In the recently released findings from its “Canadian Survey on Disability 2012” Statistics Canada reports mental health-related disability frequently co-occurred with other types of disability: 91.6% of those with mental health-related disabilities also reported at least one other type of disability in 2012. Of note, the survey reported on co-occurrence between mental health disabilities and pain.
Among other findings, the employment rate of working-age adults, aged 15 to 64, with mental health-related disabilities was 35.9%, less than half the employment rate of those in the same age range who did not have any type of disability (73.6%). While finding no significant gender differences related to employment, the analysis reported that in each age group, those without any disability were roughly twice as likely to be employed as those with a mental health-related disability (this pattern was more pronounced in the older age groups). Of those currently or recently in the workplace, almost 64% felt disadvantaged or discriminated against,; many of those not in the labour force reported job search barriers.
The Survey also provided some valuable data on income – the median personal income (before taxes) of working-age adults aged 15 to 64 with a mental health-related disability was $14,700—less than half that of those without any reported type of disability ($33,800).