May 2024 - California Agencies for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CAABVI)Presents Highlights From:
The Prevalence and Characteristics of People Aged 18 to 64 Years Reporting Blindness and Low Vision, United States and State of California, 2019, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Prepared by:
The VanNasdale Group, LLC
Objective: To provide an overview of some of the potentially notable findings in VisionServe Alliance’s California Working Aged Data Report for members of CAABVI to consider in grantmaking, fundraising, advocacy, and community education efforts. CAABVI has made no attempt to validate these findings and is only providing a summary of the report for ease of use in consideration for members, should the members feel the data to be accurate.
Unless otherwise noted, all data points to information about people aged 18 to 64 who live in California and report vision loss or have serious difficulty seeing.
Report Highlights:
8.7 million people between the ages of 18 to 64 and 4 million people who are 65 or older report blindness and low vision in the United States (a total of 12.7 million people ages 18 and older).
n California, nearly one million people ages 18 to 64 report being blind or having serious difficulty seeing.
Compared the only 4.2% of people without visual impairment, nearly 22% of people who report vision loss feel they are unable to work. This means that people with visual impairment are five times more likely to feel like they are unable to work in California when compared to people who do not report visual impairment.
People who report blindness and visual impairment in California are 3.5 times more likely to report fair/poor health (5.27% vs 15.1%).
People who report low vision and blindness are twice as likely to have less than a high school education, and 3.5 times more likely to have not graduated from college.
Over 66% of Californians who are blind or have low vision live on less than $35,000 a year, or below the poverty line.
Californians who report blindness or have low vision are significantly more likely to also face other adverse health conditions, including 5 times more likely to have kidney disease, 4.5 times more likely to have a hearing impairment, over 3 times more likely to have a stroke, and 2.5 times more likely to have diabetes and depression.
People living in California who are blind or have low vision report significantly more challenges related to their disability. Over 43% of people who are blind or low vision report issues with cognition, 37% have difficulty walking or climbing stairs, and nearly 26% report challenges running errands, which is between 5 and 7 times more than Californians with no vision impairment.
Studies show that the correlation between working and health-related quality of life is very significant in the population of people who are blind or have low vision. Risk of diabetes, depression, stroke, kidney disease, and severe hearing impairment was up to 11.5 times more likely for people who report blindness or low vision and are out of work, compared to those working for wages.
People who report blindness and low vision and are working for wages or are self-employed report substantially more favorable outcomes compared to those who are unemployed in four functional disability measure categories: walking/climbing stairs, concentrating/remembering, bathing/dressing, and running errands.
Data indicates that individuals who have graduated from college and report blindness or low vision are significantly more likely to be working and in the labor force.
For individuals who report blindness, are out of the labor force, and are not a student, an average of 65% are living with an annual household income of less than $25,000.
Nearly 63% of people who report blindness and low vision who report being unable to work suffer from depression.
Direct quote excerpts from the end of the report, titled “Discussion:”
Working aged people often face economic and social barriers described under the rubric of Social Determinants of Health; that is upstream factors, such as income, education, and geographic location, which contribute to downstream health effects.
Many people, working or not, report low household income, and they report a disproportionately lower level of education.
36.3% of working-aged people with vision impairment who are working have household incomes less than $25,000.
Among those who report not being able to work, 71.3% report incomes below $25,000.
Working aged people with vision impairment report disproportionately higher prevalence of chronic conditions compared to people without vision impairment. Among people with vision impairment, chronic conditions are substantially higher among those out of the labor force, except among students.
Suggested Citation:
VisionServe Alliance (2023). The Prevalence and Characteristics of People Aged 18 to 64 Years with Blindness and Low Vision, United States, 2019, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, St. Louis.