About Spectroomz - We Help Neurodivergents folks Get Qualified To More Work From Home Jobs. ?By: Vanessa BlanchardThe Autistic WorkerAutism Employment Trends & StatisticsAutism Discrimination in the WorkplaceFactors in Succuss for Autistic EmploymentVocational Rehabilitation A Full picture of Autistic...
About Spectroomz - We Help Neurodivergents folks Get Qualified To More Work From Home Jobs. ?
By: Vanessa Blanchard
Autism Employment Trends & Statistics
Autism Discrimination in the Workplace
Factors in Succuss for Autistic Employment
A Full picture of Autistic Support Needs
Resources list
Unemployment in the Autistic community is known to be high. But what exactly does that mean? In general, unemployment is a term that denotes a snapshot -- a moment or two in someone’s entire career. In fact, unemployment is measured specifically in terms of someone who is without a job and is actively looking. Yet, the autism unemployment rate doesn’t represent a mere snapshot in an individual career. Rather, employment statistics around autism show a trend that is chronic and extreme. Decades of research shows that Autistic people are significantly disadvantaged when it comes to having stable careers. This article seeks to review much of that research and outline important Autistic employment statistics that cover a wide range of career-related factors, including:
The Autistic Worker
Autism Employment Trends
Autism Discrimination in the Workplace
Factors in Success for Autistic Employment
A Full Picture of Autistic Support
Conclusion
Data shows disproportionately high unemployment and disproportionately low wages across time and space, employment trends that cannot be attributed to individual Autistic behavior. Yet, research consistently places the responsibility to overcome on Autistic shoulders. The main focus is on teaching social skills to overcome the intense social barriers -- often framed as an Autistic person’s social deficits -- that Autistic employees face while working or seeking work. There is a clear bias, and probable misconception, about autism and where the onus falls for social competency and career success.
So, let’s break down all the Autistic employment stats, and examine what the data shows is happening in Autistic careers. We’ll start by defining the Autistic worker.
Learn how to hire (and keep) Autistic employeesThe Autistic Worker
Autism has a wide range of traits and characteristics that present differently in every person. Here are just a few examples:
Some will be sensory seeking, some avoiding, and some will need degrees of both.
Some will be extroverted, others introverted.
Some will be speaking and others will communicate through alternative methods.
Some will require high levels of support, others will be able to maintain with lower levels of support. Most need support of some kind. Nearly all need more support than they get.
Etc
There are also many common co-occuring issues found alongside autism, such as ADHD, OCD, PTSD, digestion issues, Ehler Danlos Syndrome, and more.
The prevalence of autism
The CDC reports that the prevalence of autism is increasing (1). Currently, it is believed that about 2.8% of the population (or 1:36 people), are Autistic. The demographic makeup of Autistic diagnosis is shifting to include higher numbers of women and people of color. Changes in these demographics are the result in shifting social understanding and shifting access to a diagnosis.
Prevalence statistics only represent those diagnosed with autism. Autism exists without a diagnosis, and it’s often very difficult and expensive to receive one. However, increased understanding of autism is likely to continue increasing access to a diagnosis, so prevalence will continue to grow in coming years.
The large number of late-diagnosed Autistics means there are many undiagnosed Autistic people in the workplace. For example, some self-report measures show that the prevalence of autism almost doubles within the tech industry (2).
Undiagnosed Autistic folks are at higher risk for career disruption because they don’t have access to accommodations or protections under disability laws. Yet their disabilities remain. It’s likely that outcomes could be consistent or even worse for these individuals than those represented in research.
More autism prevalence in boys than girls?
While the CDC has since updated this statistic, it has recently reported that boys were 4 times more likely than girls to be diagnosed as Autistic. This ratio is not reflected in the Autistic community and even some research has expressed surprise at the disparity. One study found an “unexpectedly large representation from female participants (43.31%)” (5) and quoted the CDC statistic as the reason for their surprise.
The disparity in measured prevalence by research bodies, such as the CDC, seems to exist along race and gender lines. However, our review of the research shows that intersectionality is a factor that is rarely considered in autism employment statistics.
Education levels among Autistic adults
Education levels vary within the Autistic population, but research indicates that it’s common for Autistic people to have at least some post-secondary education:
One study found that 86% of their participants had completed at least some college and that 55% of participants in the study obtained a degree (5). This was by far the highest rate of completion found in decades of research. One possible reason for this is that the participation pool of this study was skewed towards privilege (55% male, 87% white) (5).
The National Center for Special Education Research followed a group of Autistic young adults from the ages of 18-26 and found that 44% attended post-secondary education and 17% of participants got their degree during the study (22).
A third study found that 13% of their participants went to college and only 4.3% of participants obtained a degree during the study (15).
Multiple studies found that academic support was directly linked with academic success for Autistic college students (15, 22).
Educated white men with family support were most likely to have positive outcomes with employment (15). It’s also likely that scholastic accommodations drastically impact completion rates, which we’ll discuss in the Factors of Success for Autistic Employment section. Below is a graph that illustrates the attendance and completion rates found in these studies.
Autistic Work Ethic
If you talk to Autistic people about their careers, you’ll learn very quickly that many have intense work ethics. Autistic people are reported to be 90% - 140% more productive when starting a new job. This productivity outpaced employees who had been there for 5 - 10 years (10). While this may seem like a bonus for employers, Autistic people will tell you that this statistic comes from intense fear that social friction will cost them their jobs. These fears are justified. Autistic people face social discrimination specific to autism (7). These social biases result in uneven demands of effort and labor in social settings, where Autistic people perform all accommodation efforts and non-Autistic people do little, if any.
In fact, these uneven social demands have been repeatedly shown to be the biggest barrier to successful employment for Autistic people (14). While studying Autistic employment experiences, Baldwin, Costley, and Warren found that, “despite their capacity and willingness to work, [Autistic people] face significant disadvantages in the labour market and a lack of understanding and support in employment settings” (16). And Müller et al. found that hard skills and work ethic weren’t enough for Autistic people to overcome social barriers in their employment (14).
Autistic people often struggle to get hired in the first place and spend an average of 12 months looking for work (11). In contrast, the U.S. Bureau of Labor reports that unemployed people in general spent an average of 22.4 weeks to find employment (38).
Despite strong early performances, they keep their jobs for an average of 24 months (11). This is half the U.S. average job retention rate, which is 49 months (33). This pattern could indicate 2 possibilities:
An increased rate of burnout among Autistic working adults.
That social bias is a significant barrier to successful employment among Autistic people (more on this later).
The tenacity required to look for work for 12 months (on average) is not a burden non-autistic people bear. Autistic people are required to outwork their peers, and they aren’t allowed to keep their jobs for 5-10 years.
Employers of Autistic people would be better prepared for mutual cooperation if they were made aware of these issues. Education on this topic should examine the relationship between work ethic, social bias, and burnout. It will demystify a lot of behavior.
The Hidden Costs of Autism Over a Lifetime
Survival is tied closely to stable employment, therefore a holistic view of Autistic living is necessary. Conditions in and out of the workplace significantly impact each other and these costs are key to understanding some of that interconnectedness.
From 1990 - 2019, there were a total of $7 trillion in social costs for Autistic folks in the U.S. (25). This amounts to about $3.6 million in social costs over a single lifetime for an Autistic person (25). These costs include increased medical and psychiatric expenses as well as lost wages and productivity. The measure also considers costs associated with therapy, education, accommodations, and respite care.
Lifetime medical costs for Autistic people are up to six times as high as the national average (24). Medication costs were also higher, especially for gastro-intestinal needs and for psychiatric medication. Autistic folks had on average 40% more subscriptions than non-Autistic peers (24). These costs increased steadily over the Autistic person’s lifetime.
Additionally, people with “high functioning”* autism were at least four times more likely to need inpatient psychiatric services (24). There are many co-occurring conditions common to autism. For example, Autistic folks have higher rates of trauma and PTSD, perhaps with worse symptoms than their non-Autistic peers (27). Research indicates that there is a cumulative effect for trauma in Autistic groups, which means that they could be more susceptible to developing PTSD (27).
This is important, because burnout is often reported as being very traumatic, as well as being induced by chronic stress and social trauma. Self-reporting indicates that burnout plays a significant role in every working Autistic person’s life (28).
Having access to lifelong support in their daily lives has been shown to increase Autistic wellness, both physically and mentally. Yet the very definition of “high functioning”* insinuates that a lack of support is needed. In practice, little, if any, support exists for many Autistic adults.
Despite these costs outpacing the national average in several ways, these expenses represent less than 5% of all costs associated with autism (24). 58% of all social costs will come from a “loss of productivity” (25). This includes lost wages from multiple sources:
Struggling to find anything other than low paying jobs
Chronic unemployment
Periods of time when they are unable to work (i.e. due to burnout)
Long stretches of time spent looking for work
Lost wages due to caretaking for other Autistic individuals
Issues like burnout and discrimination increase these “loss of productivity” costs for many reasons. Symptoms of burnout can last for months increasing the amount of time between jobs. Social biases contribute to lost productivity by increasing the chronic stress the Autistic person experiences at work and by increasing the likelihood of termination.
The Costs of Late-Diagnosis and the Privilege of a Diagnosis
When studying the economic costs of autism, Rogge and Janssen said, “[Anecdotal] evidence obtained from families or individuals with ASD shows that the diagnosis process can be a real struggle, with, among other things, long waiting lists and high upfront costs.” (24).
In the United States, a diagnosis can cost as much as $2,750 (24).
Adulthood diagnosis is a common experience for Autistic people. Lack of professional awareness, long waits, and high costs can delay a diagnosis for years, or prevent one entirely. Autistic people who make it into adulthood without a diagnosis often don’t know about their neurology, which means that they don’t have information about their needs. Issues like Autistic masking, burnout, and PTSD will have run amok in their lives. They are less empowered to care for or advocate for themselves, and they won’t have access to accommodations and protections under the laws like the ADA (30).
A diagnosis is one small piece of an Autistic person’s lived experience, yet it’s clear that autism-specific hidden costs spring up and balloon very quickly from daily life.
Learn the top 5 mistakes you should avoid when hiring Autistic people
Autism Employment Trends
Now that we’ve given an overview of the Autistic worker, let’s look at employment trends for Autistic folks around the world. Extremely high unemployment rates, persistent under-employment, and disproportionately low wages are common knowledge in the Autistic community. Research not only supports these claims, but demonstrates that this issue is specific to autism and transcends both time and location.
Autistic unemployment trends are an intergenerational, international problem.
Autism Employment Rates
Employment rates have been disproportionately low for Autistic people around the world for decades (15). In fact, research has shown that Autistic people are the least employed disabled group (32). The chart below demonstrates employment rates among disabled groups in the UK in 2020 (3).
It can often be hard for Autistic people to find inclusion into traditional work environments to begin with. Instead, many Autistic people find themselves “being served in either facility-based work or community-based nonwork programs” (15). Programs like these have been shown to lower quality of life by not providing adequate stimulation, purpose, independence, or social belonging (29).
Yet issues like social isolation are reported, even among Autistic people who gain traditional employment (34). Discrimination and a lack of support follow Autistic people into the workplace, despite many protections put in place to help. Again, data indicates that these oversights are specific to the presence of autism (7).
In the U.S., social isolation for Autistic people starts in primary school and continues into adulthood. Autistic adults are an overlooked population. It’s assumed that those who need support can’t work and those who can work don’t need support.
But research doesn’t support this conclusion. Rather, as Roux et al. stated in their National Autism Indicators Report on Vocational Rehab, “their need for help does not go away in adulthood and many will have great difficulty finding and keeping employment” (26).
Additionally, the Department of Labor promotes the Employment First philosophy, which is, “centered on the premise that all individuals, including those individuals with the most significant disabilities, are capable of full participation in Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) and community life”(31).
Despite this philosophy -- and several laws protecting disabled folks at work -- un and under-employment plague the Autistic community. Loopholes remain in labor laws that allow denial of accommodations. Supports remain ineffective and hard to access. Additionally, research shows that the more support an Autistic person receives, the lower their wages are (see the Vocational Rehabilitation section). Medical, corporate, and government systems all deny Autistic people access to competitive integrated employment.
To demonstrate this, let’s break down some statistics for different aspects of Autistic employment.
Autism Employment Rates by Study
The collection of statistics on autism employment rates paint a grim picture of Autistic employment across time and culture:
Research conducted in the 50’s found that only 3 of 63 participants (5%) found jobs when they entered adulthood (18)
Research from 1973 found that 11 of 96 adults (11%) had jobs in their 20’s and 30’s (18)
1974 study followed 22 adolescents and found that 1 (5%) got a job after completing school (18)
Research in 2002 showed that 15% of Autistic people found a job their first year out of high school. As participants aged, this rate went up to 63%. All other disabled groups saw their employment rates raise from 54% in the first year to 91% over the course of the study (18)
A study published in 2011 found that 37% of the participants were employed at the time of the interview (11)
A study in 2012 reported a 25% employment rate (13)
Another 2012 study found that 60% of their participants found employment (15)
Research in 2017 found that 61% of their participants were employed at the end of their study. Nearly 1/3 of the 39% not employed hadn’t been able to find a single job (5)
Other worldwide outcomes:
Japan (1992) 20% employment rate (18)
Canada (2008) 56% employment rate (18)
UK (2009) 18% employment rate (18)
UK (2020) 31% employment rate (3)
UK (2021) 39% employment rate (3)
Within the community, employment rates improved slightly with “higher functioning”* subsets of Autistic participants, but wages, hours, and job advancement did not (18).
Below is a graph that contrasts the autistic unemployment rate with the national unemployment rates for each country represented in this article. National unemployment rates match the year each respective study was completed.
This long standing pattern of unemployment transcends both space and time and likely reflects a few factors:
The disabling nature of autism
The marginalization of Autistic individuals
The compounding injury of sustained poverty, repeated turnover, trauma, and burnout
More research is needed into the causation of these consistently poor outcomes, but systemic failures are surely a major contributing factor. This will be discussed and supported with further research later in the article.
Autistic Adults and Underemployment
Underemployment is another common status for working Autistic adults. There are several things that constitute underemployment (5):
Involuntarily works less than full time
Works full time without earning a living wage
Job doesn’t utilize the person’s skillset
Job provides less status because of background
As we work through the data on hours and wages, you’ll see another recurring pattern: Autistic people get stuck in entry-level, low paying jobs, even with higher education degrees (5). In fact, many Autistic people report that “menial jobs” were the only type of job available to them (12).
Research backs these reports up. Studies have shown that many aren’t able to find jobs that match their qualifications (12). Even those with higher education degrees worked low paying, entry-level, part-time jobs (18). One study reported that 45% of employed participants were overqualified for their jobs (16).
Average Hours Worked by Autistic Adults
The majority of working Autistic people work part-time. Studies have shown that Autistic people work an average of 23 to 24.1 hours per week (15, 18). Here is a breakdown of a few individual stats on part-time status and hours worked among Autistic populations:
A 2008 study found that most of their participants worked, or volunteered, an average of 5 hours a week (18).
A 2011 study followed 66 participants for 10 years and found that none worked full-time. Only 6% had “competitive jobs” (18)
A 2012 study found that only 25% of the working participants worked more than 30 hours/week (15)
A 2016 study into Vocational Rehabilitation outcomes for Autistic folks found that 80% of those employed worked-part time (26)
This report notes that the U.S. average for part-time workers is 19%
A 2017 study found that 46% of those employed worked part-time (5)
This research is also supported by Vocational Rehabilitation tracking systems. Data from these systems note that Autistic folks routinely work fewer hours and earn lower wages than other disabled groups (18, 26).
Many Autistic people report that part-time work is an accommodation that allows them to maintain employment. However, research into the hidden work of autism is minimal. Where part-time effort is assumed, intense emotional labor seems to be taking place. Autistic people report needing to develop a lot of soft skills that most workplaces don’t consider when measuring productivity. Masking (36), extra communication, self-regulation, conflict management, navigating microaggressions, and keeping their disability hidden are all examples of hidden labor that is required from Autistic people.
It’s possible that Autistic labor -- including the number of hours being invested in said labor -- is being overlooked. By measuring productivity solely based on non-disabled standards, Autistic efforts are easily dismissed as inefficient (9). This is despite the fact that research indicates that Autistic people are more productive than their peers (10).
It’s also possible that Autistic people prefer part-time hours because those are their only “productive” hours, despite the fact that there’s no research that indicates full-time workers are productive for all 40 hours (43). This possibility denotes a need for advocacy support in social settings such as workplaces.
How much money do Autistic people make?
The trends among pay rates for Autistic people are perhaps the most egregious part of the equation. Because not only are they routinely low, they are lower than others who do the same jobs. Research indicates that hourly wages are lower because autism is present. Let’s break that down a little by looking at average wages found in different studies into Autistic employment trends:
One study found Autistic adults made an average of $7.91 per hour (in 2012) and that only 25% made more than $8.33 per hour (15)
Another found that their participants made an average of $9.20 per hour (11).
A study in 2004 followed 68 Autistic adults for 7 to 29 years and found that only 2 had worked for full salary (18).
One study noted that it couldn’t identify factors that impacted hourly wage. The authors suggested that it was because there was so little variation from the mean hourly wage (15).
Could there be so little variation because autism is the factor?
Data from Voc Rehab supports this possibility. Wage statistics from Voc Rehab programs across the U.S. show that the few supports that do exist for Autistic adults result in even lower hourly wages (18). Let’s look at these stats from Voc Rehab tracking to compare average wages between Autistic people and their peers:
Autistic people worked an average of 22-26 hours/wk, and brought home an average of $175-$216/wk (26)
All other participants in Voc Rehab worked between 29-32 hours/wk, and brought home between $271-$322/wk (26)
In reviewing Voc Rehab efficacy, data demonstrated that using Vocational Rehabilitation services results in higher employment but consistently lower wages (26). Autistic participants made less money than all other disabled groups participating in the same program (26).
In contrast to all of this data, average wages in the U.S. are as follows:
Depending on the industry, hourly pay averages between $20.93 and $49.52 (35)
Average weekly pay averaged between $535.18 and $2,089.92 (35)
While more research is needed, there is a consistent pattern of Autistic people making significantly lower hourly wages than their peers. There is a clear link between the specific condition and below-poverty wages across the board. It would appear that current legislation that seeks to protect disabled people is lacking in wage protections for Autistic folks.
When compared to U.S. national averages, it would seem that no disabled group is gaining competitive compensation from Vocational Rehabilitation programs.
Autistic Employee Retention Rates
Most of the research into Autistic employment trends defines successful employment in one of two very limited ways:
Are they employed on a specific date? (i.e. the time of interview or the end of the study)
Have they been employed for 90 days?
The majority of the studies reviewed for this article relied on the first definition to determine employment. Vocational Rehabilitation -- and related research -- used the second. Very few measured employment success past the initial 90 days.
Even with these limited definitions of employment success, the statistics look grim.
Research indicates that Autistic people hold a job for an average of 24 months (11). This same study found that Autistic people had an average of 3 jobs over the 8 year study and spent an average of 12 months looking for work (11). A different report found that participants averaged 4-5 jobs over the 5 year study (5). In contrast, the Department of Labor reports that American workers keep their job for an average of 4.1 years (49 months) (33).
Job instability was common, even among the currently employed (5). Ohl et al. reported that 35% of their participants who were unemployed had either quit their jobs or were fired (5). Newman et al. found that 31% of those who were unemployed in their study were either fired or let go in some way (19% were laid off, 12% were fired) (11). Another 45% of this group were in temporary positions that had ended (11). 76% of the unemployed Autistic people in this study had lost their job in some way (11).