On 29^th November Inclusion Europe launched its latest report on the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families. The ‘Inclusion Indicators 2023’ report aims to provides data on what life in Europe is like for 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their family members.

The report’s indicators assess access to rights across 7 different areas of life:

1. Right to decide and right to vote
2. Right to live independently and to be included in the community
3. Housing and support
4. Education
5. Employment
6. Healthcare
7. Representation

The report was conducted over 29 different countries, 23 out of which are in the EU. Some of the key findings include:

•  A prevalent lack of agency in one’s life decisions. As far as within 26 countries, a person can be stripped of their legal right to exercise agency and control over their own money, living situation and marital status. In several countries, the right to vote is limited or completely revoked for people with intellectual disabilities or under guardianship.
• Many persons with intellectual disabilities are forced to live in institutions – 750,000 in segregated “care” institutions, and 39,000 in psychiatric hospitals.
• Very few people with intellectual disabilities have the possibility to live independently.
• Whilst 1.1 million children with intellectual disabilities are in mainstream schools, growing up alongside their non-disabled schoolmates, there are 700,000  in special schools, and 20,000 children with intellectual disabilities that are receiving no education at all.
• On the topic of employment, less than 10% of people with intellectual disabilities have a paid job. In 17 countries people with intellectual disabilities are at risk of losing their disability benefits should they earn a salary. This leaves people with the limiting choice of having to sacrifice either earning a fair wage or their benefits.  This

Another consequence to this is that family members, primarily women, are in turn in a position where they must leave the labour market and stay at home with their disabled family member.

You can find the full report and inclusion indicators here. Speaking on the launch of the report Inclusion Europe urged governments and businesses to take the report into account and work towards building a more inclusive, fair, and open Europe and encourages service providers to make use of it to better target the needs of persons with disabilities within their countries.