Persons with Mental Disorders in the Labor Market

描述（由研究者提供）：本研究的目的是开发和评估精神疾病和工作残疾的模型，特别关注识别与不良工作成果相关的精神障碍类型，以及精神障碍患者在劳动力市场上受到歧视的程度。先前的研究表明，歧视导致了残疾人的低工资和低就业率，而且歧视的程度与对不同类型的障碍的偏见程度之间的相关性很弱。精神障碍患者可能受到强烈的偏见，但没有专门针对精神疾病的劳动力市场歧视的研究。在某种程度上，这是因为没有可用的数据来支持这样的研究。这些信息现在可以在MEPS和NHIS残疾调查中获得，这两个数据集可以联系起来。拟议中的项目将利用这一丰富的数据源，首次对精神障碍对劳动力市场结果的影响进行严格的经济分析。该项目的具体目标是：(1)比较严重精神障碍人士与身体残疾人士及非残疾人士的相对工资及就业率；并估计精神障碍患者的低工资在多大程度上可归因于劳动力市场歧视。(2)比较不同类型精神障碍患者的医疗保健和失业成本，并分析对支出的预期在多大程度上可以解释所观察到的工资和就业差异。(3)确定使精神障碍患者能够参与劳动力市场的工作特征（例如，职业、健康保险、非全时工作）。(4)分析工作相关歧视的自我报告与不同类型精神障碍的歧视性工资和就业差异的一致程度。提出这个项目是及时的，因为最近在治疗严重精神障碍的药物方面取得的进展现在使许多患有这些疾病的人能够参与劳动力市场。然而，歧视仍可能阻碍她们充分发挥潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The purpose of this research is to develop and assess amodel of mental illness and work disability, with a specific focus on identifying the types of mental disorders associated with poor work outcomes, and the extent to which persons with mental disorders are subject to discrimination in the labor market. Previous research shows that discrimination contributes to the low wages and employment rates of persons with disabilities, and that the extent of discrimination is weakly correlated with the intensity of prejudice against different types of impairments. Persons with mental disorders may be subject to intense prejudice, but there are no studies of labor market discrimination specifically focused on mental illness. In part, this is because the data have not been available to support such a study. The information is now available on the MEPS and the NHIS Disability Survey, and the two data sets can be linked. The proposed project will use this rich data source to provide the first rigorous economic analysis of the impactof mental disorders on outcomes in the labor market. The specific goals of the project are: (1) To compare the relative wages and employment rates of persons with serious mental disorders to persons with physical impairments and non-disabled persons; and to estimate the extent to which the low wages of persons with mental disorders can be attributed to labor market discrimination. (2) To compare the health care and work loss costs of persons with different types of mental disorders and analyze the extent to which expectations regarding expenditures may explain observed wage and employment differentials. (3)To identify job characteristics that enable persons with mental disorders to participate in the labor market (e.g., occupation, health insurance coverage, part-time employment). (4) To analyze the extent to which self-reports of job-related discrimination coincide with measures of discriminatory wage and employment differentials across different types of mental disorders. The proposed project is timely because recent advances in medications for serious mental disorders now enable many persons with these illnesses to participate in the labor market. Yet discrimination may still prevent them from achieving their full potential.