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Childhood disability, social class and social mobility: A neglected relationship

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View the page of Stella Chatzitheochari

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Stella Chatzitheochari focuses on the importance of social class for disabled young people’s outcomes, emphasizing the need for intersectional analyses of disability inequalities.

Image courtesy of interviewee. April 30, 2024

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This video video discusses the concept of disability, particularly in the context of childhood, highlighting that it includes a wide range of physical and mental differences that deviate from societal norms. It emphasizes the impact of disability on learning and development, particularly for children with special educational needs. The narrative draws attention to the socioeconomic factors associated with disability, noting that disabled children often come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and are more likely to encounter adverse outcomes in adulthood, such as lower educational and occupational attainment.

The research identified in the text investigates how disability status interacts with social class, exploring whether disabled individuals from upper or middle-class families have better outcomes compared to those from working-class backgrounds. The findings indicate that disabled individuals from working-class families experience significantly more challenges and disadvantages, particularly in terms of unemployment and social mobility, compared to their non-disabled peers.

This video video calls for more comprehensive data and research to understand the nuances of disability discrimination, particularly how different impairments may lead to varying experiences of disadvantage. It highlights the need for longitudinal studies to track outcomes over time and emphasizes the importance of understanding the sources of discrimination, whether that be in educational settings or the labor market. Overall, it advocates for more research to inform policies that could better address the specific needs and challenges faced by disabled individuals across different social classes.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.425 --> 00:04.285
So generally speaking, disability is a term

00:04.435 --> 00:07.765
that encompasses a wide range of mind

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and body differences that fall outside

00:11.125 --> 00:12.765
societal expectations of normality.

00:12.765 --> 00:15.645
Really, when it comes to childhood disability,

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the focus is very much on

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societal expectations surrounding learning and development.

00:21.745 --> 00:24.005
So we're not just thinking about children

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and young people who have certain longstanding

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conditions or illnesses.

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We're also thinking of those who have

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special learning needs, so to speak.

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These are often children

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and young people who are identified

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as having special educational needs in school settings.

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This means that they require different,

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a different learning approach often than the one that tends

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to work for the average non-disabled student

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that does not have special educational needs.

00:58.075 --> 01:01.255
So yes, I would say that it's a,

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it's a wide ranging term that really includes

01:07.395 --> 01:09.515
d a heterogeneous population.

01:09.815 --> 01:11.755
Uh, yeah. Yes, certainly.

01:12.055 --> 01:16.435
So the re example evidence from national representative,

01:16.435 --> 01:19.995
studies both in the uk, England, as well

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as other countries that disabled children

01:22.575 --> 01:26.075
and young people generally tend to come, are,

01:26.175 --> 01:30.355
are more likely to come from socio,

01:30.675 --> 01:32.115
economically disadvantaged families.

01:32.255 --> 01:34.795
That's not always the case, but it is more likely.

01:35.575 --> 01:38.755
And at the same time, we know that individuals

01:38.755 --> 01:40.715
who have experienced childhood disability

01:40.935 --> 01:43.995
or adolescent disability are also more likely

01:44.215 --> 01:47.595
to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood.

01:47.975 --> 01:49.995
So you may think about educational attainment

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or educational attainment or occupational attainment.

01:53.655 --> 01:56.755
So while there was a lot of large scale evidence,

01:57.595 --> 02:00.875
surrounding the adverse socioeconomic outcomes of

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disabled young people in England, we didn't really know

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how disability status interacts with other characteristics.

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And precisely because we knew that,

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disabled young people are more likely

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to come from socioeconomic disadvantage.

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We turned our focus to social class.

02:20.455 --> 02:24.635
And what we wanted to see precisely was how social class

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and disability status interact.

02:26.735 --> 02:31.035
And we wanted to see whether those from upper class

02:31.135 --> 02:32.715
or middle class families,

02:32.775 --> 02:36.035
who are disabled have different outcomes than those from

02:36.035 --> 02:37.555
working class, families.

02:38.415 --> 02:41.075
Um, and that was quite novel in the sense

02:41.105 --> 02:43.675
that generally disability studied as a,

02:44.535 --> 02:46.125
as a homogenous group.

02:46.525 --> 02:48.565
Disabled people are studied as a homogenous group.

02:48.665 --> 02:51.445
Uh, that's partly because there are data limitations

02:51.625 --> 02:54.165
and researchers are not able to look at these things.

02:54.585 --> 02:56.125
So that was the novelty of the paper.

02:56.155 --> 02:58.205
Looking at these two characteristics together,

02:58.805 --> 03:03.525
I would would say that it's, it's precisely,

03:03.785 --> 03:05.805
so it combines,

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it combines insights from both visibility studies as well

03:10.245 --> 03:12.165
as social stratification literature.

03:12.585 --> 03:13.845
So for those who are not aware

03:13.845 --> 03:15.965
of social certification literature,

03:16.025 --> 03:19.125
that's more like traditional mainstream sociology

03:19.135 --> 03:22.565
where we look at social hierarchy, how people,

03:22.665 --> 03:24.605
end up in certain positions in society.

03:25.185 --> 03:26.205
And on the other hand,

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disability studies is an interdisciplinary field

03:29.285 --> 03:32.605
that has really turned our focus to the structural barriers

03:32.605 --> 03:34.005
that disabled people face.

03:34.825 --> 03:39.565
So what we really wanted to do was to really highlight,

03:39.825 --> 03:43.685
all these, inequalities in social mobility,

03:43.715 --> 03:45.765
between non-disabled and disabled people,

03:45.865 --> 03:47.165
but also,

03:47.475 --> 03:50.805
between disabled people within the disability group, so

03:50.805 --> 03:52.925
between disabled people of different social classes.

03:53.825 --> 03:56.845
Uh, and by doing that we really wanted

03:57.185 --> 03:59.045
to also encourage researchers

03:59.105 --> 04:00.565
to start thinking about the

04:00.565 --> 04:02.165
intersection of these two stages.

04:02.585 --> 04:05.165
So the UK is a place

04:05.195 --> 04:07.685
that provides very good longitudinal data.

04:07.895 --> 04:10.725
These are data that follow individuals over time.

04:11.385 --> 04:14.685
So individuals are interviewed,

04:14.775 --> 04:17.045
every few years time or something like that.

04:17.305 --> 04:22.245
So you have data on them, across their life course.

04:22.625 --> 04:25.645
So this was next steps, that's a longitudinal study.

04:26.145 --> 04:27.885
Uh, it started as a school cohort,

04:28.065 --> 04:30.965
but now they keep on following these people who were born

04:30.965 --> 04:33.805
between 1989 to 1990.

04:34.705 --> 04:38.725
Um, and we were able to use data

04:39.755 --> 04:43.525
from when they were aged 14 to 15.

04:43.945 --> 04:47.445
Uh, and we were then able to see

04:47.445 --> 04:49.405
where they were when they were aged 25.

04:50.505 --> 04:54.485
So effectively what we did is we had a measure

04:54.505 --> 04:56.285
of their social class at age 14,

04:56.825 --> 04:59.725
and then we had a measure of their social class at age 25.

05:00.225 --> 05:02.765
And in social mobility research, this is precisely

05:02.765 --> 05:05.165
what you do, you look at destination,

05:05.465 --> 05:07.405
you look at origin, excuse me,

05:07.405 --> 05:09.645
and destination in terms of social class.

05:10.225 --> 05:12.845
So we were able really to trace their pathways.

05:13.065 --> 05:16.325
So for example, did they start from a low social class?

05:16.385 --> 05:18.125
Did they end up in a low social class

05:18.265 --> 05:20.845
or did they experience upward mobility and so on.

05:21.385 --> 05:22.925
So these were very powerful data.

05:23.075 --> 05:25.725
Usually in disability studies, we do not have access

05:25.725 --> 05:28.525
to such longitudinal nationally representative data.

05:28.995 --> 05:32.845
Like previous studies, we certainly found big discrepancies

05:32.845 --> 05:35.125
between non-disabled and disabled people.

05:36.035 --> 05:38.805
That in itself, was not very novel.

05:39.065 --> 05:42.605
We were expecting to see that what was more novel is

05:43.075 --> 05:47.445
that we did, certainly, according to our expectations, found

05:47.475 --> 05:51.605
that, disability status has a disproportionate nega

05:51.705 --> 05:54.645
disproportionately negative effect on those from

05:54.645 --> 05:55.685
working class backgrounds.

05:56.305 --> 06:01.005
So there were a lot more likely, to exper to,

06:01.065 --> 06:02.525
to end up in unemployment.

06:02.835 --> 06:06.205
They were also a lot less likely than non-disabled people

06:06.205 --> 06:07.445
from working class backgrounds

06:07.445 --> 06:08.765
to experience amport mobility.

06:09.425 --> 06:12.605
So indeed, it was a very, it is a very

06:13.915 --> 06:17.285
neglected, group in policy and in research.

06:17.385 --> 06:20.565
And we find that it's experiencing really a lot more

06:20.565 --> 06:21.845
disadvantaged than other groups.

06:22.315 --> 06:26.165
This is not to say that disabled middle class people

06:26.225 --> 06:29.285
or upper class people do not experience disadvantage.

06:29.555 --> 06:32.285
They are more disadvantaged than non-disabled people.

06:32.865 --> 06:34.605
But there's a stark difference across

06:34.625 --> 06:35.725
the social class spectrum.

06:36.265 --> 06:40.335
So I would say that we need more data,

06:40.515 --> 06:42.935
we need better data to understand why this happens.

06:43.835 --> 06:45.215
One of the things that we cannot

06:45.955 --> 06:47.575
really draw conclusions about,

06:47.795 --> 06:51.775
and this is where we need more data about, is whether

06:52.805 --> 06:54.855
individuals with different conditions,

06:54.855 --> 06:58.135
different impairments, whether they experience the,

06:58.605 --> 07:00.575
whether they end up in these positions

07:00.575 --> 07:02.095
for the same reasons, so to speak.

07:02.205 --> 07:05.455
Okay? So there may be de different reasons, different types

07:05.455 --> 07:07.495
of discrimination experienced by different groups.

07:07.955 --> 07:09.855
And in terms of policy, that's very important.

07:10.035 --> 07:13.895
That's why we need to be able to tell how these varies,

07:14.075 --> 07:16.375
you know, what are the experiences, for example,

07:16.375 --> 07:18.695
of autistic young people, what are the experiences

07:18.695 --> 07:20.055
of physically disabled young people?

07:20.235 --> 07:21.695
Are there differences between them

07:21.795 --> 07:24.815
or are we talking about, the same mechanism, so

07:24.815 --> 07:25.815
to speak, of disadvantage?

07:26.635 --> 07:31.215
Um, we also need, more,

07:32.325 --> 07:34.335
more research on what happens later on.

07:34.675 --> 07:36.775
We still don't have evidence on what happens,

07:36.835 --> 07:38.935
say at age 35 or at age 50.

07:39.555 --> 07:42.335
So ideally we would like to see more funding

07:42.335 --> 07:45.015
around these longitudinal studies to be able to trace them,

07:45.115 --> 07:46.695
and that would also be very powerful.

07:48.035 --> 07:51.615
In general, the most important thing I would say is

07:51.615 --> 07:52.775
to conduct research

07:53.045 --> 07:55.815
that tells us more about the sources of discrimination.

07:56.035 --> 07:57.975
So does this happen early on in school?

07:58.235 --> 08:00.615
Is this all because of educational attainment

08:00.955 --> 08:03.375
or is there also discrimination in the labor market?

08:03.755 --> 08:05.375
So lack of reasonable adjustments

08:05.395 --> 08:09.495
or, you know, discrimination in hiring processes and so on.

08:09.795 --> 08:11.295
So it's a very complex puzzle

08:11.755 --> 08:14.455
and we certainly need more data to be able to solve it.

00:00 - So generally speaking, disability is a term that encompasses a wide range of mind and body differences that fall outside societal expectations of normality. Really, when it comes to childhood disability, the focus is very much on

00:18 - societal expectations surrounding learning and development. So we're not just thinking about children and young people who have certain longstanding conditions or illnesses. We're also thinking of those who have special learning needs, so to speak. These are often children and young people who are identified as having special educational needs in school settings. This means that they require different,

00:47 - a different learning approach often than the one that tends to work for the average non-disabled student that does not have special educational needs. So yes, I would say that it's a, it's a wide ranging term that really includes d a heterogeneous population. yeah. Yes, certainly. So the re example evidence from national representative, studies both in the uk, England, as well as other countries that disabled children

01:22 - and young people generally tend to come, are, are more likely to come from socio, economically disadvantaged families. That's not always the case, but it is more likely. And at the same time, we know that individuals who have experienced childhood disability or adolescent disability are also more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. So you may think about educational attainment or educational attainment or occupational attainment.

01:53 - So while there was a lot of large scale evidence, surrounding the adverse socioeconomic outcomes of disabled young people in England, we didn't really know how disability status interacts with other characteristics. And precisely because we knew that, disabled young people are more likely to come from socioeconomic disadvantage. We turned our focus to social class. And what we wanted to see precisely was how social class and disability status interact.

02:26 - And we wanted to see whether those from upper class or middle class families, who are disabled have different outcomes than those from working class, families. and that was quite novel in the sense that generally disability studied as a, as a homogenous group. Disabled people are studied as a homogenous group. that's partly because there are data limitations and researchers are not able to look at these things.

02:54 - So that was the novelty of the paper. Looking at these two characteristics together, I would would say that it's, it's precisely, so it combines, it combines insights from both visibility studies as well as social stratification literature. So for those who are not aware of social certification literature, that's more like traditional mainstream sociology where we look at social hierarchy, how people,

03:22 - end up in certain positions in society. And on the other hand, disability studies is an interdisciplinary field that has really turned our focus to the structural barriers that disabled people face. So what we really wanted to do was to really highlight, all these, inequalities in social mobility, between non-disabled and disabled people, but also, between disabled people within the disability group, so

03:50 - between disabled people of different social classes. and by doing that we really wanted to also encourage researchers to start thinking about the intersection of these two stages. So the UK is a place that provides very good longitudinal data. These are data that follow individuals over time. So individuals are interviewed, every few years time or something like that.

04:17 - So you have data on them, across their life course. So this was next steps, that's a longitudinal study. it started as a school cohort, but now they keep on following these people who were born between 1989 to 1990. and we were able to use data from when they were aged 14 to 15. and we were then able to see where they were when they were aged 25. So effectively what we did is we had a measure

04:54 - of their social class at age 14, and then we had a measure of their social class at age 25. And in social mobility research, this is precisely what you do, you look at destination, you look at origin, excuse me, and destination in terms of social class. So we were able really to trace their pathways. So for example, did they start from a low social class? Did they end up in a low social class or did they experience upward mobility and so on.

05:21 - So these were very powerful data. Usually in disability studies, we do not have access to such longitudinal nationally representative data. Like previous studies, we certainly found big discrepancies between non-disabled and disabled people. That in itself, was not very novel. We were expecting to see that what was more novel is that we did, certainly, according to our expectations, found that, disability status has a disproportionate nega disproportionately negative effect on those from

05:54 - working class backgrounds. So there were a lot more likely, to exper to, to end up in unemployment. They were also a lot less likely than non-disabled people from working class backgrounds to experience amport mobility. So indeed, it was a very, it is a very neglected, group in policy and in research. And we find that it's experiencing really a lot more disadvantaged than other groups.

06:22 - This is not to say that disabled middle class people or upper class people do not experience disadvantage. They are more disadvantaged than non-disabled people. But there's a stark difference across the social class spectrum. So I would say that we need more data, we need better data to understand why this happens. One of the things that we cannot really draw conclusions about, and this is where we need more data about, is whether

06:52 - individuals with different conditions, different impairments, whether they experience the, whether they end up in these positions for the same reasons, so to speak. Okay? So there may be de different reasons, different types of discrimination experienced by different groups. And in terms of policy, that's very important. That's why we need to be able to tell how these varies, you know, what are the experiences, for example, of autistic young people, what are the experiences

07:18 - of physically disabled young people? Are there differences between them or are we talking about, the same mechanism, so to speak, of disadvantage? we also need, more, more research on what happens later on. We still don't have evidence on what happens, say at age 35 or at age 50. So ideally we would like to see more funding around these longitudinal studies to be able to trace them,

07:45 - and that would also be very powerful. In general, the most important thing I would say is to conduct research that tells us more about the sources of discrimination. So does this happen early on in school? Is this all because of educational attainment or is there also discrimination in the labor market? So lack of reasonable adjustments or, you know, discrimination in hiring processes and so on. So it's a very complex puzzle

08:11 - and we certainly need more data to be able to solve it.

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