The Impact of Social Participation on Employment Opportunities for Workers with Disabilities: A Comparative Study with Non-disabled Workers

Abstract

Aims: This study examines the impact of social participation on employment opportunities among workers with disabilities compared with non-disabled workers, and assesses how education, training, and digital technology shape social participation in both groups. Study Design: Quantitative observational study using a cross-sectional secondary dataset, combined with a quasi-experimental approach through matching and regression analysis. Place and Duration of Study: Indonesia (DKI Jakarta sub-sample); analysis used a worker survey dataset comprising 789 workers with disabilities and 12,273 non-disabled workers from the 2021 National Labour Force Survey (Sakernas), a nationally administered survey by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) with publicly accessible microdata. Methodology: The effect of social participation on employment opportunities was estimated using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to compare individuals with similar characteristics, followed by Probit regression to test the association between social participation and employment opportunities, including an interaction between education and digital technology. Education and training were also included to assess differences in their influence across the two groups. Results: Active social participation increased employment opportunities for workers with disabilities by 10.5%, while the increase for non-disabled workers was 1.2%. The interaction between education and digital technology was positively associated with social participation in both groups, with a stronger effect among workers with disabilities. Education and training were also associated with participation, but their influence was relatively more pronounced for non-disabled workers. Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of social inclusion in reducing employment barriers faced by people with disabilities. Policies that expand opportunities for social participation and improve access to education, training, and digital technology may help narrow the employment gap between workers with and without disabilities. For the scientific community, this study contributes evidence from a developing-country setting on how social participation relates to employment inequality. It also demonstrates the value of combining PSM with regression-based models to strengthen inference in disability employment research. The results highlight the role of digital capability as a complement to education in shaping participation and labour-market opportunities, especially for workers with disabilities.