Education and income

The level of income a person receives is affected by their level of education (see also Education and skills). However, people with disability who achieve high levels of education are less likely than people without disability to receive their main source of income from wages or salary.

Of people aged 15 and over:

  • 43% with disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have wages or salary as their main source of income, dropping to 17% if their disability is severe or profound
  • 78% without disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have wages or salary as their main source of income (Figure 1).

This difference between people with or without disability is also seen in personal income level:

  • 37% of people with disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have high personal income, dropping to 19% if their disability is severe or profound
  • 58% of people without disability who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher have high personal income (Figure 2).

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2016. Microdata: disability, ageing and carers, Australia, 2015. ABS cat. no. 4430.0.30.002. Canberra: ABS. AIHW analysis of TableBuilder.

Alternative text for Education and income

Figure 1

Stacked column chart showing three main sources of income for people with and without disability with one of six levels of educational attainment. The reader can select to display the chart by disability status. The chart shows people with a Bachelor’s degree or higher and severe or profound disability are less likely (17%) to have wages or salary as their main income source than those with other disability (48%). Back to figure 1

Figure 2

Stacked column chart showing three levels of personal income for people with and without disability with one of six levels of educational attainment. The reader can select to display the chart by disability status. The chart shows people with no educational attainment and disability are less likely (41%) to have a low personal income, of $348 or less per week, than those without disability (60%). Back to figure 2