Concepts of disability have been included in nearly all census forms since 1830, which asked whether persons were blind, deaf, or mute. While the term “disability” was first used in the 1880 census, its definition was not the same as ones used today. Early concepts of disability focused mainly around health conditions like sensory conditions, mental conditions, and deformities of limbs -- and not on the relationship between health, functioning, participating in societal activities, and fulfilling appropriate societal roles. After the 1910 census, items on health or disability were dropped from the census form, not to be seen again for many decades. Returning in the 1970 census, disability content focused on limitations to working at a job.

The purposes of the 1970 census work disability questions were to identify persons with a health problem that limited the person’s ability to work and to provide a measure of the severity and duration of the limitation.

The following data is derived from the 2006 American Community Survey.     Next »