WELLINGTON, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Disabled people fare worse than non-disabled people across a range of outcomes relating to housing, financial status and mental health, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
A new report, measuring inequality for disabled New Zealanders, brings together data from three Stats NZ surveys to explore differences between the lives of disabled and non-disabled people in 2018. It includes census data, which has been broken down by disability status for the first time, according to the department.
Housing quality was worse for disabled people, wellbeing and housing statistics manager Claire Bretherton said in a statement, adding that disabled people typically live in lower quality homes than non-disabled people.
"Compared with non-disabled people, disabled people were less likely to live in a suitable home that is warm, and free from damp and mould," Bretherton said.
Disabled people were also less likely to rate the attractiveness of their neighborhoods highly, and found it harder to access facilities, such as doctors and medical centers, or supermarkets and dairies, she said.
"Disabled people were less likely than non-disabled people to say they had enough money, or more than enough money, to meet their everyday needs," she said.
Disabled people aged between 15 and 64 years received a median personal income of 353 NZ dollars (236.5 U.S. dollars) per week in 2018, less than half that of non-disabled people in the same age group, which was 806 NZ dollars, Bretherton said.
"This income gap reflects the fact that disabled people are less likely to be in work and typically work fewer hours. They also tend to rely more on government benefits, and have lower educational qualifications," she said.
The report also shows disabled people are more likely to be lonely. They were less likely to feel satisfied with the amount of contact they had with their social networks, and were more likely to report feeling lonely, Bretherton said.
"Disabled people also found it harder to get help from other people when they needed it and were more likely to experience discrimination," the report said, adding they found hard to trust others. Enditem
