People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey

A new European Disability Strategy was launched in 2021 with the aim of intensifying progress on ensuring the full participation of people with disabilities in society. The increase of EU policy focus on people with disabilities is timely: the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the challenges they faced in many spheres of their lives. This policy brief explores the situation of Europeans with disabilities during the pandemic. Using data from the third round of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, conducted in February–March 2021, it compares the situation of respondents with and without disabilities in four areas: access to healthcare, mental well-being, financial situation and optimism about the future. The analyses show that on all indicators the situation of people with disabilities was significantly worse.